The Sandra Bullock List
by PhunkyBrewster
Summary: "...she smiled and was instantly reminded of how precious her free time was. She enjoyed spending it alone as much as she enjoyed being selective about who she spent it with." With the help of movie star and a best friend, Mindy learns to take advantage of her single status. It all begins with a list... Mindy/Danny. Multi-chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Mindy Lahiri stepped inside her apartment and flicked the light switch with her curved knuckle, immediately feeling the calming effects of being back in her own home, at last. With one hand clutching her keys and the other holding her small to-go box, she nudged the door closed with her rear and swiftly slipped out of her wedged heels. Haphazardly, she left them strewn by the entrance as she made her way into the kitchen. She hoped that she could find a clean, proper fork rather than the plastic cutlery that was often so readily available. Some desserts were simply meant to be eaten with silver, like the strawberry shortcake from Pardo's, which she would reluctantly admit she had looked forward to all day more so than the company she was scheduled to keep. She opened the drawer closest to the fridge, which clattered loudly – the noise wasn't necessarily indicative of anything promising, really, as she always seemed to have an abundance of knives above anything else – and began pushing aside the utensils until she found one small, lone fork hiding underneath a large spoon.

"Aha!" she exclaimed, thankful in that moment for life's small victories. Mindy snatched it up and quickly inspected it to make sure it was clean enough for her standards. Satisfied with a couple of tiny water spots, she carried her cake into the living room and set her purse at one end of the couch while plopping herself at the other end, her well-worn spot. It had almost become a post-date mourning ritual: come home with dessert (something sickeningly sweet and easily transportable, like tiramisu cheesecake from Indigo or the stiff French chocolate pie from The Golden Lark), curl up on the couch with her softest throw pillow, and indulge herself with the latest episode of Catfish while she celebrated the fact that there were people with way shittier love lives in existence. It was almost ceremonial in nature, a foolproof method of easing the sting of disappointment. She even caught herself eyeing the couch to make sure the remote was in place before she left for the practice that morning, still maintaining the hope that the night would go well, but acknowledging the probability that things would fall just as flat as they had time and time again.

She wasn't exactly grieving the loss of Guy – which wasn't his actual name, but she feared that the knowledge of it would result in a waste of precious brain cells – as much as she had just grown weary of the downward trajectory of her dating life, in general. Truth be told, the date was dead on arrival the moment he met her at Shulman's Women's Health Associates. Between his strange cologne, which was reminiscent of roach spray, and his off-putting compliment that she'd already pushed almost completely out of her memory – something about dressing for her "skin tone" – she had already resigned herself to an evening of the lightest conversation she could muster and ordering an appetizer for a meal to expedite matters._I should write a Yelp review about how much I'm willing to suffer for this shortcake_, she thought, internally drafting her commentary throughout their walk to the restaurant. At the close of the night she had trouble deciding what was worse: the fact that she had spent one of her few off nights with a guy who had a surplus of sexist rants about Nancy Pelosi or the reality that this hadn't even been the worse date she'd been on over the past month. In the end she chose to save her brain power for much more important matters, like her Yelp review, which would ideally be the perfect blend of informative and hilarious.

First, however, she would take the time to enjoy her well-earned treat, settle against her pillow, and momentarily forget her wreck of a dating life while silently swooning over a silver-haired, skeptical-looking Max Joseph.

* * *

"Betsy, can you make sure to schedule Ms. Gullman's induction for Monday morning?"

"Sure thing, Dr. L!"

"Thanks."

Mindy replaced her office phone on the stand and immediately diverted her attention to her computer screen. As she started to amend some of the file's notes, she fought the urge to glance at the clock on her desk for a fifth time. The morning dragged in an unbearable fashion, unlike the day before. She instantly attributed it to the fact that she had the date/cake to look forward to the entire day prior and tonight (_Date Night_, she thought with a hint of bitterness) only promised her cold leftover pizza, which theoretically had one more good day left, and a hopefully uneventful on-call shift. Productivity, Mindy found, was usually the cure for slow days like these, so she threw herself into her patient load in hopes that the time would eventually pass.

She then heard her office door suddenly creak open, but she didn't feel the need to look up. There was only one person in the practice who ever entered her quarters without knocking.

"Hey, Min," Danny Castellano called out from the door frame. "Did you get Jeremy's e-mail about pic approvals for the newspaper ad?"

"Mm hm," she replied without taking her eyes off the screen. She said nothing else, under the impression that the answer would be satisfactory enough for Danny to make his exit. It wasn't.

"Uh, do you have a preference?" he urged a little anxiously. "We're waiting on you, here. Do you want me to choose for you?"

Mindy groaned, then look up. Danny was leaning against the frame, his arms crossed.

"Danny, you cannot be trusted to pick a photo. I still haven't forgiven you for the Christmas card travesty of 2011, you know."

"Okay! So pick one so Jeremy can stop nagging us about it! I can't go through another day of hearing how we're 'depriving the women of Manhattan' of his creepy-looking smile, Mindy, I can't."

Rolling her eyes, Mindy hurriedly pulled up the window with the e-mail's attachments. She quickly scanned her options and pointed at the screen. "The second one."

"Good. You did look nice in that shot, by the way."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Rather than leave, Danny stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He leaned backwards and propped himself against it while slipping his hands in his pant pockets. "So, I'm guessing your date with that guy didn't go so well."

Mindy stopped what she was doing to give her full attention to her colleague and best friend. His astuteness didn't come as a major shock to her, but she couldn't help but ask, "Why would you assume that?"

Danny shrugged. "Because whenever you have a hot date, you can't stop yourself from chirping about it all over the practice before you even step off of the elevator."

"Okay," she warned with a raise of her hand.

"I'm not making fun," Danny clarified, pushing himself off of the door, "I'm just saying, you're usually pretty vocal about these things and today you're a little quiet, that's all. So what happened? Was he a jerk to you?"

Mindy found it difficult to be annoyed when he sounded genuinely concerned. She sighed. "He wasn't a jerk to me, per se, but he was pretty awful…and sexist…and boring…and he smelled _funny_, right?"

"Yeah, definitely. Like roach repellent."

"Thank you!" Mindy cried. "He claimed that it was a designer scent and I was like, 'Yeah, designed by Raid, maybe.'"

At that, Danny chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty nasty. Well," he shrugged again. "I'm sorry you had to waste your time, Min. You'll get 'em next time."

Mindy smiled and furrowed her eyebrows, confused by his paternal brand of encouragement. "Thanks, coach!"

Danny gave her a half smile before turning around and leaving the office. Despite his very well-meaning intentions, this particular exchange reminded Mindy of why she made the decision long ago to stop broadcasting her failed dates to her colleagues and staff. She hated to hear the pity in their voices when they expressed their condolences and, even more than that, she loathed not knowing the source of said pity for sure. Maybe they had long pegged her as a failure in the dating world, or assumed that she was the cause of the night's downfall. Maybe, as some have boldly pointed out to her, they all felt that her mid-thirties was "too old" to still be in the dating scene at all (_Which is such a load of misguided shit_, she thought). She wasn't sure which one of those categories Danny fell in, if any at all. All she knew was that he felt sorry for her, in some capacity. That was enough to make her wish she hadn't said anything at all. She didn't need pity of any kind.

There was one thing Mindy did feel that Danny had right: last night had been a complete waste of her time and there was really no denying that. There were, however, more important matters that demanded her attention, like deciding which old school Maroon 5 song would make it onto her morning "Get Pumped" mix before Ms. Gullman's surgery, which was a task far more rewarding than dwelling on time already lost.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, all! I'm happy to finally release the first chapter of my new story. There will be ten chapters total.**

**In case you're curious, this story is canon-divergent AU. This would take place after Cliff, but the events of The Desert have not occurred because, if you haven't heard by now, I love exploring possibilities. :-) This story was partly inspired by a fan drawing that Mindy Kaling posted on various social media, titled The Many Failed Dates of Dr. Mindy Lahiri. It was drawn by Tyler Feder, an illustrator and comedy writer. **

**I have to extend a special thank you to Calliope_Soars (AO3), helenvanpattersonpatton, Smapdi, and alittlenutjob. You ladies are incredible beyond actual words.**

**I hope you all enjoy! Reviews/comments are greatly appreciated, if you can spare some time to leave them!**

**Hollaatchyagirl,**

**Phunky**


	2. Chapter 2

Mindy's weekend progressed fairly unimpressively by her usual high standards. There were no high stakes shopping sprees, nor deftly researched run-ins with Daniel Radcliffe on the street, not even a seemingly serendipitous meeting of an attractive man at Whole Foods. Instead, she simply did her laundry, made a failed attempt to stock her fridge with more vegetables, and watched Say Anything while texting Gwen and Alex her favorite quotes. The weekend, however, wasn't without its little thrills, including gently Twitter-stalking Michael Ealy (he retweeted her, _finally_!) and finding an upcoming medical conference in Florence – an idea that would be a bit of a hard sell to the rest of her partners, but demanded an honest effort.

There were a few instances, however, when her thoughts drifted toward the subject of time – her time, more specifically – and its ever-changing properties. When did she go from having infinite time to a very precious, rationed amount that she couldn't afford to squander? Exactly how much time could be classified as "wasted" and what percentage of wasted time laid at the feet of men who had no permanent place in her life? If she considered how many possible dates she could average over the span of six months and factored in the projected percentage of those that would surely be considered failures, exactly how many looks of pity did she have to look forward to from Beverly alone?

The evolution of this thinking started with the sporadic pop-up on Friday afternoon and by Sunday night had turned into the major monopoly of her contemplation, leaking into Monday morning and almost threatening her focus just before Ms. Gullman's procedure. After the surgery (which progressed flawlessly, despite all impending distractions), Mindy parked in the doctor's lounge and let some of her previous thoughts off of their leash. How long did that surgery take, about an hour? So, she hypothesized, she could comfortably fit two standard surgeries in the same time span of one useless date with Guy Pelosi-Hater. That date, she concluded, was roughly two babies worth. _What if one of those babies was a future U.S. President?!_, she thought. _Granted, the other could be a noted bank robber, but still! The potential! _These musings left little room for certain logic, like the fact that she would never willingly schedule a surgery for the evening, anyway, or that her lack of presence wouldn't prevent said babies from being born, just her direct involvement. And it wasn't so much about to literal possibility of bringing an actual icon into the world as much as it was about recognizing that there were better uses of her time.

Before long she was buried under a figurative pile of numbers and "what-ifs," sitting almost stock-still on the lounge couch with the ends of her hair slipping between her fingers, slowly descending upon a problem that was in desperate need of a solution.

* * *

Tuesday was a consistently slow day at the practice, which made it an ideal day to tend to general matters of office upkeep and patient follow-up. Instead, Mindy gaped at a cluttered dry-erase board in the phlebotomy room with her cellphone in one hand and her other hand jammed in her lab coat pocket, scratching at the sheet of folded stationary inside. She looked at the final calculation one more time – the same calculation she had arrived to three times before – then back at her shiny red loopy shorthand.

"Holy crap," she mumbled, leaning back against the nearby counter. "This is _insane_."

At that moment, Danny entered with a chart tucked under his arm. "Here you are! I was looking for you earlier. Hey, Tamra wants to lodge an HR complaint against the taxonomists on the floor below ours. She can't do that, can she?"

When she didn't answer, Danny waved his hand frantically. "Hell-oooo? Mindy, you there?"

Mindy blinked hard and snapped her head towards him. "Sorry, Danny, I'm kind of busy." She returned her concentration to the board. Danny followed this time, taking a gander at her handy work. He nudged his chin in that direction.

"What's all this?"

"You'll just make fun of me."

"Probably, but you should tell me anyway." Tossing the file on a parallel cabinet, he propped himself against the counter next to Mindy, waiting with his arms crossed for an explanation.

Mindy started with a breath. "So I've been thinking about what you said. About how I wasted my time." She turned her head to find Danny's eyebrows furrowed, undoubtedly trying to remember what she was referring to. "You know, my date with that guy?"

"Oh," he replied, though his narrowed eyes hinted towards lingering confusion.

"And you were right: it was a total waste going out with him. I mean, not that I'm heartbroken or anything, but it did get me thinking: what else could I have been doing instead? How much time have I tossed out the window for the sake of possibly meeting Mister Right? So I started looking at it from a different angle, a more scientific one."

She pushed herself off of the counter and made her way to the front of the board, gesturing to indicate all of the notes and numbers. "This, Danny, is my dating life."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he mumbled.

"Nope!" Mindy shook her head and pushed her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose. "Not kidding."

"This looks like a preteen girl's Disney adaptation of Good Will Hunting."

"I've never seen Good Will Hunting, so unfortunately I can't get quite as offended by that as I'm sure you'd like me to be."

"You've never seen Good Will Hunting?" Danny pressed with raised eyebrows. "How can that be? It's a classic and you're _from_ Boston!"

Mindy shrugged her shoulders. "So? Does that mean you've seen every movie set in Staten? Melanie Griffith's character in Working Girl was from Staten. Have you seen Working Girl, Danny?"

"Actually, I have," he answered confidently. "It's one of my mom's favorites. Rich and I used to watch it with her all the time. It's not bad, actually."

"Oh, my God, Danny, you like Working Girl?" Mindy squealed. "You should have told me! We could have had a movie night –" She stopped her tangent to raise a finger at her counterpart with steely determination. "No. I will **not** be distracted. Anyway, I was considering how much time I had devoted to this one night that I wasn't even particularly excited about when I started thinking: exactly how much time have I wasted on these first dates, these gateways to absolutely nothing? So I started to do the math."

"You started to do the math?" Danny challenged. "_You_, the woman who always makes me calculate her tip at lunch?"

"Hush," she commanded, then pointed to a list of names at the far left corner of the board, as if she were conducting a lesson. "I made a list of the major dates and exes over the past two years. Thirteen total, and I would appreciate no commentary on that, thanks!"

She chanced a glance at Danny to find him clamping his mouth shut and holding up both hands in surrender. She continued.

"So, all first dates follow a fairly consistent timeline of events. There's the ten minutes it takes to meet the guy and decide whether or not I want to go out with him-"

"Ten minutes?" Danny interjected. "That's it?"

"Uhhh," Mindy slanted her eyes and popped a hand on her hip, indignant. "And exactly how long does it take you to meet a loose woman at a bar and decide to take her home, Judgy McHypocrite?"

Danny rolled his eyes and mumbled something that sounded like "touché" before Mindy commenced.

"Like I said, ten minutes to meet, then the night comes and I have to get ready. That's 90 minutes minimum. Then there's the date itself. If I'm being generous and including travel time to and from, the usual dinner and something else random – a museum or some stupid performance at a jazz bar that I pretend to be into – that's about three hours and again, I'm being fairly _generous_ here and rounding down. Then I get home and there's the obligatory twenty minute debrief with Gwen."

"Obligatory?"

"Absolutely. That, in this _one date_, is a total of 300 minutes, Danny!" She pointed at the corresponding number at the end of the lengthy equation close to the top. "Multiply that by thirteen and you get 3,900 minutes! That's 65 hours, almost a long weekend's worth, wasted on first dates _alone_ from the Big Thirteen! Bear in mind, I was with some of these guys for a while! And this is not even inclusive of every single first date I've been on since 2012!"

Danny stepped away from the counter with his arms still crossed, unimpressed with the discovery. "And how much time did it take for you to come up with all this, roughly?"

"I dunno, fifteen minutes, maybe?"

"You should definitely include those fifteen minutes with the other 65 hours you've supposedly flushed down the toilet."

Mindy grabbed the nearest dry-erase marker and lobbed it at Danny, which he ducked expertly with a hint of a smug smile at the corner of his lips. "Look, all I'm saying is that deeming it all a waste is a little dramatic! It couldn't have all been bad. You got to get out of the apartment, go to nice restaurants on the guy's dime…hey, didn't you go to, uh, Pardo's last Thursday? I bet you got to have that shortcake you like so much…"

Mindy stubbornly crossed her arms and replied begrudgingly, "I did. It was breathtaking, as usual."

"There you go!" Danny looked victorious, as if he had proved his point beyond a shadow of a doubt. "Look, all I'm saying is that if you got something positive out of it, then the time wasn't a complete loss, alright?"

"Well, that's easy for you to say!" Mindy walked closer to the counter and resumed her lean against it. "Men can basically date until they're 90 and nobody bats an eyelash. He can be gray up to his ear hair and the world will call him an 'eligible bachelor.' If he does decide to settle down – and I do mean _decide_, because it's clear that he gets the final word in the matter, always – then, somehow, it's the woman who's the lucky one for taming this 'wild stallion' or whatever stupid name is used to describe a guy who just wanted to do his own thing for a while.

"But if a woman isn't married and popping out a kid by the age of 30, then she must be some kind of leper or cat lady-in-training. Every day, every _minute_ is precious because once we hit 35, we better have a husband or a damn good explanation for our single status. I'm in my mid-thirties – yes, I'm admitting it today – so, in theory, I shouldn't have 65 hours to waste. It's alluring when it's a man; it's tragic when it's a woman."

Mindy was a little pleased to see that Danny had the decency to look apologetic about the conclusion. "You know I don't buy into that bullshit, right? I know I gave you crap before when I was being an idiot, but…you're not wrong, but you get that I don't think that way, yeah?"

She touched his forearm gently, reassuring him that she wasn't including him in her rant. "I know you don't, but I think for a long while I believed it, at least a little. I've been going out with these men and lately I've been so consumed with whether or not they were destined for a second, third, or even fourth date that I would forget to have a good time. Sometimes at the end I would feel like I did when we were trying to find a replacement for Beverly, confused as to how these men could look so good on paper and yet be so wrong for the job, like I never left the office!"

Danny nodded his head like he was considering her words carefully and took his place next to her, leaning and letting her finish.

"But I realized last night that it _is_ all bullshit and I shouldn't be committing to it like it's some sort of gospel. I should celebrate my hotness everyday in a big way. I'm young, I'm successful, my body is bangin', and I'm hilarious. Who needs some weird cling-on of a guy when I can just appreciate all this for myself?"

"Mindy," Danny broached. "All of that sounds good, but I know you. I think it's fair to assume that all of this is ramping up to something silly, so…"

At that, Mindy reached into her lab coat pocket and produced the folded piece of paper. "Last night I made a bucket list and I'm determined to do everything on it before I even think of going on another date."

"There it is," Danny sighed.

"No, Danny, this is good!" Mindy had been eager to share this new phase of her life with Danny, despite knowing that he would find it ridiculous. "And I'm serious about it, too! I just made a list of stuff that I always wanted to do, but never got around to doing – probably because I was too wrapped up in my love life – and I'm determined to at least attempt everything on here and then I'll think of bringing someone new into my life, if there's even room for him. By the end of this I'm going to be so damn interesting, it's going to take one hell of a man to pull my attention. Here, take a look." She offered the paper to a mildly amused Danny, who took it with another sigh.

"Alright," he said as he unfolded the list, "let's see…what's this at the top?" He squinted so that he could decipher her bubbly handwriting. "'My Sandra Bullock List'? What does that even mean? I don't see any movies on here."

"No, Danny, that's what the list is called. It's my Sandra Bullock List!"

"Why Sandra Bullock?"

"Uh, _why the hell not_ Sandra Bullock, is more like it! Think about it, Danny." Mindy adjusted her glasses and stood up a little straighter, as if she were preparing to lay a heavy load of knowledge at his feet. "Sandra Bullock gets her heart crushed very publicly by, in my eyes, the Voldemort of monogamy and we're all prepared for her to fade into the shadows and grieve her heart out, but what does she do instead? She immediately snags herself an MTV Generation Award, looking flawless as ever, adopts that cute ass baby, does The Heat, _Gravity, _earns nomination after nomination, does a bunch of charity work, all the while looking way younger than even me!" As she rambled on, she looked off almost distantly, thoroughly impressed by Sandra Bullock's accomplishments. "She's like a love phoenix, rising from the tabloid ashes better than anything any tattooed stripper could ever dream of being. So I'm modeling this new stage in my life after her. I'm gonna come out the other end of this better than ever."

Danny shook his head while masking a small smile. He looked over the list. "Okay, some of these are good. You could definitely benefit from a few cooking classes. I've been telling you that for years."

"Uh, excuse you!" Mindy defended. "I can cook just fine if I need to."

"Gee, I seem to remember someone texting me and asking if it was possible to make meatballs with diced hot dogs and crushed saltines. Was that you or did I dream that?"

Mindy nudged him with her shoulder. "Shut it. Keep reading."

"Alright, alright," he conceded, smiling fully now. "Train for a 10K…I think that might be a little overzealous for someone who hates exercise, but any attempts at fitness are good in my book. Learning self defense, volunteering…like I said, some of these I can get behind, but some of these are downright dangerous. What's the point of going to a bar or on a cruise alone?"

"Going to a bar and enjoying a drink by yourself without the looming stress of trying to meet someone is empowering," Mindy explained while ticking off the point on one of her fingers. She raised a second finger with her next point. "And a vacation by myself would be a great way to just enjoy some me time and really absorb my surroundings. I'd get to drink out of a hollowed out pineapple and eat as much steak as I want, sans judgment…it would be amazing!"

Danny cringed. "I don't like the idea of you gallivanting by yourself to these places. Take the self defense class first. Take a few classes, actually."

"Okay, Dad," Mindy teased. She watched Danny return to the list.

"Okay, Min, some of these are ridiculous. You buy expensive dresses all the time. How is that a big deal?"

"Uh, correction: I cruise sales. This time I'm going all out. Damn the price."

"I like the idea of you making your own wine. That can actually be a useful skill, kind of like my –"

Mindy held up a hand to stop him from continuing. "If you even compare my soon-to-be awesome, critically acclaimed wine to your awful beer, I'll make sure you don't get even a sip."

Danny appeared wounded. "My beer is fantastic. I'm workshopping a summer berries ale right now and it's going to blow your mind."

"It's gonna blow, alright," Mindy muttered, which earned her a nudge of her own. He went back to the list. "Eating at a new theme restaurant, not sure why you'd want to do that to yourself, but whatever…Okay, Mindy, I need you to be serious with yourself here. How are you going to start your own clothing line? You know nothing about the actual business of fashion."

"I feel like I've watched enough Project Runway –"

"Nah," Danny immediately rejected. "Nope."

"No, hear me out! I've watched enough Project Runway and Bravo to know that you don't need to sew or know much, just have enough talented young designers draw and create your visions for you and have a small financial backing and BAM! You're a part of Fashion Week, your clothes are sold in every Macy's in the nation…"

Danny had to laugh at Mindy's misguided business plan, which actually caused Mindy to smile and stifle her own laughter. "Okay, I might revisit that one."

"Please do," Danny sighed, handing her back the list. "Look, if you think this is going to make you happy, then I support you. Just…just don't think that all this is somehow going to make you a more interesting woman or a better person. You're already a good woman, you don't need to do all this stuff. I mean it."

Mindy looked up at him and recognized the sincerity in his expression. Touched, she replied, "Thanks, Danny, that's really sweet. I promise, though, I'm doing this because I genuinely want to. All this stuff is for me and nobody else."

Danny nodded his acceptance. "Well, I wish you good luck with it. And be safe, alright?"

"I will."

"Alright, then I'm gonna go get ready for my next appointment. Lunch today still stands? Your newfound love of math means you should be able to figure out your own tip, right?"

"Oh, I am all mathed out," Mindy replied, tucking the list back into her pocket. "But that's what I have you there for, right?"

Danny smirked and shook his head in mock disapproval. "I guess so, Min."


	3. Chapter 3

**1. Train for a 10K (amended)**

As the soles of her sneakers drove into the pavement, Mindy could vaguely feel the pain shooting from the arches of her feet to her kneecaps. Her calves felt like they were being struck with hot metal rods and she silently prayed in between labored breaths that her ankles didn't snap on impact, which seemed likely to happen in a matter of moments. The pain in her lower back had not dulled over time like she assumed it would, hoping that her body would adapt quickly to this new onslaught of activity. Rather, it intensified and spread all the way up to her shoulder blades. She felt like she was sprinting with her backpack from high school, stuffed beyond proper closure with gargantuan honors textbooks and school supplies. Of course, her body at that young age was better equipped to sustain the added weight while she rushed from class to class. Attempting such a feat now, she thought, might kill her. As she took another sharp intake of breath, she began to think that death was imminent.

Mindy had long since lost the older runner she had originally tailed for inspiration. The pace had seemed so doable before and despite the ever-present sweat that had soaked through his dark shirt, he appeared to be comfortable with his progress. Now, as she huffed and gasped desperately, she angrily cursed his deceptive appearance. There was a brief moment when she increased her speed in an effort to catch up to the silver-haired speed demon. Then her vision fluctuated in and out of focus as her breathing became almost painful. Suddenly, the goal shifted from catching up with the mystery runner to simple survival.

The gasping quickly turned into wheezing and her limbs felt like lead. Her ability to keep her eyes open waned until she reached an open park just beyond the intersection. She quickly registered a rusty swing set and something that sounded vaguely like someone calling her name in the distance, just before her feet came to a complete halt and her body sank to the ground.

There were only darkness and the warped rattle of her own difficult breathing. She couldn't tell if she had already passed through the famous white light or if it was still forthcoming. What felt like only a flash of time passed before she felt a sharp, almost painful grip of her shoulders. _Wait, there's still pain in the afterlife?_, she thought. _What a ripoff! _The simple creak of her eyelids ushered in a flood of blinding light and she heard her name much clearer than before.

"Mindy!"

As she registered the feeling of being urgently shaken by her shoulders, Mindy opened her eyes a little more to get her first peak of Heaven and the saint guarding the pearly gates.

This particular saint bore a striking resemblance to Danny.

"Mindy! Are you alright?! Jesus!"

Even lying on the ground Mindy felt unbelievably dizzy, struggling to keep her eyes open while her heart raced at an alarming pace. "Wha-huh" she gasped, the attempt to talk somehow speeding up her heart rate even more. "Sh- ungh...Danny…dead…"

"Alright, you're not dead, c'mon," Danny groaned as he grabbed both of her hands and gently tugged her until she was sitting upright. The motion exacerbated the dizziness as her eyes tried to focus on a single point. Danny placed his hands on her shoulders again and looked her face over, checking for signs of serious distress. As her head bobbed, Mindy noticed his dressed down appearance – basketball shorts, a white tee shirt under a dark hoodie, and his beanie cap – but she didn't have the breath nor bearings to comment on it just yet. Once satisfied, he urged, "Okay, let's get you on that bench right there. C'mon." He got off of his knees and squatted while he grabbed both of Mindy's hands again. Once he had a secured grip, he pulled her up along with him and eased her onto the bench just a couple of feet behind her.

Mindy opened her mouth to say something, but a sudden wave of nausea washed over her and reduced her to a moan.

"Min, don't move," Danny instructed. He looked around and pointed to a hot dog stand at the far corner of the park. "I'm gonna grab you a bottle of water. Just stay here, bend forward with your head between your knees, and take slow, deep breaths, alright?"

Mindy nodded and slowly bended at the waist as Danny jogged over to the stand. The nausea started to slowly subside, but the embarrassment of the incident only intensified as she spied a female jogger pretending not to stare at her. Taking in a deep breath, she commiserated over the terrible start of her new, dynamic single life. Sandra Bullock would never faint in the park. Like the fit goddess she is, she would move swiftly with her feet barely making a sound against the pavement and her perfectly slick ponytail swishing playfully behind her. Would there be a looping mantra of "don't die, Sandra! Don't effing die, Sandra!" running through her mind? Absolutely not! Her head would be totally unburdened, free to recall lines for her next slated blockbuster hit.

Once her breathing became more manageable she slowly raised her upper body until she was fully reclined, almost slumping into the distressed wood. She spotted Danny returning with a condensation-dripping bottle of water in his outstretched hand.

"C'mon, get yourself hydrated," he commanded firmly. When Mindy took the offering, he sat in the spot next to her and placed a gentle hand on her back. "Are you alright? What the hell happened?"

Mindy took a large gulp of the ice cold water, her body seemingly reawakened by the ribbon of frost slinking throughout it. She involuntarily hummed as she continued to gulp, almost draining the bottle before she spoke. "I think a better question is, how are you even here right now?" she countered, and then quickly added, "Not that I'm not grateful! You saved me, obviously. I'm just wondering how."

"You don't recognize the neighborhood?" Danny leaned forward and pointed in the direction from where she came, towards a cluster of brick buildings. "My gym's right over there, remember? I was coming out as you were running by…at least I _think_ that was running. Min, do you know how terrible your form is?"

Offended that Danny would critique her so soon after her brush with death, Mindy replied, "Excuse you, rude, my form is fine!"

"There was a lot of flailing. Also, this weird zig zag pattern –"

"Okay, okay," Mindy warned with a raise of the hand still clinging to the bottle. "I guess anyone who doesn't look like Usain Bolt automatically gets relegated to the 'bad form' category. Noted."

Danny smiled crookedly, pleased to see wit as a sign of quick recovery. "Look, proper form is really important. It keeps you from getting injured and expending unnecessary energy on movement that doesn't help you. I tried to tell you: you can't just go from actively protesting exercise to sprinting like you were…or trying to, at least."

She wanted to counter his point, but it was hard to argue from the point-of-view of a woman whose listless body had to be peeled off of the ground. "Okay, Danny, what should I do, then? What am I doing wrong?"

"Just take it slow," he encouraged. "Don't do too much at once. You have to build up your strength and endurance, follow a plan and gradually get up there. Maybe start with a smaller goal."

Tilting her head back, she let out a great sigh. The release of breath drew some attention to her increasingly aching back, a sharp reminder not to fight his advice. She realized her goal needed a reevaluation. "I'm thinking a 10K is an awful idea," she confessed. "There was a commercial for a 10K charity run to raise money for the FDNY and I'll admit that I was hoping to run alongside some cute firefighters. It doesn't seem all that worth it now. I'll just write a check."

"Alright, what about a 5K?"

"I'm thinking more than a mile of what I just endured is an awful, awful idea," she adjusted.

"Well, let's start with a mile then!" he suggested with an enthusiasm Mindy found to be a little strange. For someone who wasn't entirely sold on the list to begin with, he was here next to her, appearing much more invested than she had ever anticipated for him to be.

"Danny, I'm never going to be able to run a mile."

"Yeah, you will. Look," he shifted so that he was facing her more directly. "I'll help you, okay? I run during lunch on Thursdays and Saturday mornings. I can help you train and I promise, in three months you'll be able to jog at least a mile. Deal?" He held out his hand so that she could shake it. She had to think for a moment. This accomplishment would be significantly more rewarding if she could manage it on her own. After only two more seconds of thought, she realized attempting this on her own with no working knowledge of running is exactly what landed her on her back in the first place. With that, Mindy accepted Danny's hand and shook it firmly.

"Deal," she agreed with a small smile.

Danny nodded his approval. "Alright, we start Saturday."

* * *

They met at a park that was of equal distance from both of their apartments. At Danny's insistence, Mindy ate a banana and a spoonful of peanut butter out of the jar before leaving. (_"An Almond Joy and a Dr. Pepper are __**not**__ breakfast!" _read his text_._) He promised to bring enough water for the both of them. He also advised her to wear a pair of her most well-worn sneakers instead of buying a new pair. When she mentioned that those would be her Fat Steps, he amended, "Wear your second most well-worn sneakers."

She spotted Danny almost immediately upon entering the park, sitting at a bench with his hands clasped and his elbows propped on his knees. He was just in a dark tee and shorts this time; no hooded sweatshirt or hat this morning. As promised, there were two identical bottles of water in the spot next to him. Mindy only had a few seconds to appreciate how youthful he looked before he spotted her.

"Morning, champ," he greeted, getting to his feet instantly. He looked her over with eyebrows raised in amusement. "Wow, no Fat Steps, no glittery top…you must be serious about this!"

"So, you're saying the Miguel concert tee was a good fashion choice for today?"

"I'm saying you're not dressed like one of Madonna's backup dancers, so I'm grateful."

Mindy nudged him playfully while biting back a smile. Danny clapped his hands together.

"Alright, so the first thing we need to do is warm up those muscles, get them nice and stretched. Let's start by jogging in place for a few seconds."

Mindy complied, but still felt a need to question, "Uh, aren't we going to be doing enough jogging soon?"

"Just trust me."

While that normally wouldn't be an acceptable answer for her, the jogging motion drew some attention to his toned calves and sculpted thighs. Mindy considered those prizes for knowing what he was doing and decided to simply follow his lead. They jogged, did calve raises, stretched from side to side, and dangled forward as a way of stretching out their backs (Mindy decided this, simply hanging until her fingers almost reached her ankles, was her favorite stretch). Once finished, Danny explained their routine.

"We're going to ease into it, okay?" he began, lifting his shirt a little to reveal something that looked like a black, sleeker version of a utility belt strapped around his waist. He leaned down and grabbed both bottles of water, sticking them into their individual compartments. "We're going to walk briskly for five minutes, then we're going to alternate between walking and jogging at an easy pace. We'll jog for a minute, then walk ninety seconds. That'll repeat ten times, then we'll do a cool down walk and end with a light stretch. I've programmed my watch to keep us on schedule. How does that sound?"

To Mindy, it sounded great. "Doable!" she replied, bright and self-assured. "I've just gotta run for a minute at a time? Money in the bank."

After the third interval of running and walking, Mindy began to see the challenge. Soon she was clamoring for opportunities to walk, appreciating how the quicker-than-normal speed still felt like a great recovery for her legs after the quicker movement. While Danny was (of course) breaking a sweat, he looked entirely at ease, not even so much as adopting a heavier breath. Mindy didn't expect him to have any sort of real difficulty with this, but it spurred a little jealousy in her nonetheless. Still, she managed to survive with nothing more uncomfortable than soaked clothing and a respectable amount of gasping, a much better result than that of her efforts just days prior. After thirty minutes, the pair commenced their cool down walk.

"Great job," Danny complimented, clapping Mindy on the back. "You looked good! And your form's already improved. How do you feel?"

"Pretty good, actually," Mindy answered, beginning to feel some pride in finishing her workout. "You're a great trainer! Gotta say, though, I'm kind of jealous of you."

"Why's that?" He reached for a bottle of water from his belt and handed it to Mindy, who accepted it graciously. She took a swig and continued her walk.

"It's just kind of unfair that you get to smoke like a chimney and knock back bourbon like you were breastfed on the stuff and still get to have the body of a chiseled Roman on one of those gladiator chariots," she complained. "My only crime is that I like flaky pastries and a little wine, like every normal American should, and yet it's my body that betrays its master."

Danny rolled his eyes as he retrieved his own water. "Per usual, you're exaggerating. You've seen me smoke once, possibly twice. And I don't guzzle booze, not the way you can drain a bottle of red! Plus…I haven't smoked in a while. I don't really plan going back, either."

Mindy turned to him with a look of surprise. "Wait, you quit smoking?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't hard; I only smoked when I was under a lot of stress. It was a habit I picked up from girl."

"Christina?"

"Actually, no, not Christina," Danny corrected, appearing to have expected the assumption. "Olivia Friedland, from undergrad. Tall, very beautiful…she was a star in the theatre program and I would always see her smoking after dinner by my dorm. Olivia would smoke these long black cigarettes that smelled a little like cinnamon. I'd been trying to work up the nerve to talk to her and finally came up with the brilliant idea to pretend to be a smoker. One night I went up to her and asked to bum a smoke."

"Ewww, lame!" Mindy squealed with a laugh. Danny laughed along.

"It worked!" he cried. "I bought a pack the next day so that I could smoke with her. We talked and flirted and eventually started dating. It lasted about three months."

"Then what happened?" Mindy pressed, never able to pass up a romantic story in any form. "Was there another man? Another woman? Did her whirlwind theatrical life tear you apart?"

Danny shook his head, not phased by her typical flowery narration. "No, she was just annoying. Super dramatic – I know, big shock – and really, really clingy. She would get, like, scarily upset if I talked to Ma too long on the phone. She had to go. The smoking lingered, obviously, but she had to go."

Mindy had a difficult time picturing this college-aged Danny Castellano, struggling with girls and doing silly things like jeopardizing his health to impress them. She wondered if he had any idea then that he would become the man he is now – a handsome, sometimes too confident doctor who positively drowns in attention from the opposite (as well as the same) sex. A sudden image popped into her head of the Danny Castellano of today somehow visiting young Daniel in the past, knocking the cigarettes out of his hand and saying something like, "Don't be an idiot, kid, it gets way better from here. _Trust_ me."

She shook the image away and asked, "So, what made you quit?"

"Well," Danny sighed, "It was mainly the realization that I shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. I was always sneaking around, trying not to be seen…it just made more sense to kick the habit, even if it was sparse. Plus, you being your usual, overly involved self didn't help my case any."

They reached the bench where they began and stopped, Mindy facing him with a look of confusion.

"You tossing my cigarette after Christina's exhibit?" he added. "Most would have left me to wallow. You supported me while also working in an opportunity to boss me around."

"Ah, yes," Mindy remembered. "Did I ever apologize for that?"

"No."

"Good."

Danny smiled. "Well, you were right. It was a dumb habit, so I stopped. I'll never give up bourbon, but no more cigarettes."

Mindy grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Danny! I'm also very happy for me, because you essentially admitted that I'm the reason you quit!"

"No, that's not what I said," he quickly denied. "You're part of the reason. _Part_, Mindy."

"I'm your guide in health, Danny!" she continued excitedly, ignoring him entirely as she tossed her empty bottle into the nearest trash can. "I can follow you around, steering you away from harmful crap, slapping pastrami sandwiches out of your hand…"

"You're insane," he stated, beginning to stretch out his calves.

Mindy scoffed. "Whatever. Olivia, Christina…you seem to _like_ the insane ones."

Danny's smile returned as he shook his head. "Not all the insane ones," he corrected. "Just a few."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you're finding the story enjoyable! If you're feeling up to it, please leave a review! If not, continue to lurk! You're appreciated either way. :-)**

**Hollaatchyagirl,**

**Phunky**


	4. Chapter 4

**2. Buy an expensive dress. (Done!)  
****5. Go to a bar by myself - NO HOOKING UP. (Done!)  
****7. Visit a new theme restaurant. (Done...but might need a re-do.)**

Thursday was, to put it frankly, a spectacular day.

Mindy rose at the first sound of her alarm ("Snooze button, enjoy your day off!"). Her hair fell into place with minimal intervention. She managed to catch the train with the fewest oddball passengers and her morning bear claw was the freshest one to date. Best of all, she caught her reflection in a number of shop windows and was genuinely satisfied with what she saw. Staring back at her was a sharply dressed, radiant, happy thirty-something-year-old doctor…and, in her humble opinion, she looked _good_.

The day progressed with her favorite patients, her favorite lunch, and all of her favorite songs on her favorite Pandora station. ("Skip button, you get the day off with Mr. Snooze. You two crazy kids have fun!") It was a Thursday where nothing truly special happened, but everything that did happen felt like shiny cogs in a well-oiled machine of a day, even down to an opportune cancellation that left the last forty-five minutes of her day free. Feeling a pressing need to take advantage of the free time, she ended her day early and hit the busy streets. Rather than head towards the station, she went the opposite direction towards the row of shops just a handful of blocks away.

Halted at the first pedestrian light, Mindy hunkered down for a long shopping trip. She had the energy, the time, and fortitude to search until she found the perfect something to take home - whether it be a pair of candy-bright heels or a flashy new ring. No matter the treasure, the only unacceptable option was to go home empty-handed.

Her plans for a long shopping trip, however, changed when she fell in love with a chic party dress in the window of the second boutique she almost passed. She couldn't remember another time when she felt quite as pleased for a plan to fall through.

Examining herself in the dressing room mirror, Mindy took in every inch of the twinkling turquoise cocktail-length garment. Every detail sang of perfection: how it curved perfectly with her body, how the one wrist-length sleeve seemed to bring out her manicure perfectly while the absence of the other sleeve revealed her sinfully soft arm, and especially how the cluster of sequins and spikes at her shoulder added just the right amount of edge without making her feel like she was trying too hard. With a slight turn to inspect the back, she began to think that walking out without this dress, leaving it on an unappreciative mannequin with nobody to love it, felt criminal. As she lifted it off of her body she felt a tag scrape against the back of her neck, reminder her that she had yet to learn its price. Once off, she took a look.

"Jesus, nine hundred dollars?!" she exclaimed, flipping the dress around in search for another, more reasonable price tag. Maybe, she thought, there was a detail she had missed, like a ruby-gemmed embellishment or the fact that it was crafted out of some sort of endangered fabric. She reviewed the tag again to make sure the decimal point was in the correct spot. Astounded, she put the dress back on its hanger and held it at arm's length to give it a final discerning look. It was pretty, but she wasn't sure if it was "$898.99 + tax" pretty.

As she changed into her own clothes, Mindy reminded herself of how the dress made her feel, how rare it was to fall for the first thing she saw, and how everything in her life seemed to align just right in order for her to find it on that particular day, at that very moment. Then the image of her list came to mind with one of the items glowing for attention: **"4. Buy an expensive dress."**It surely belonged in that category and her finances certainly allowed for it, after all. She slid into her heels and exited the dressing room, still wrestling with the decision to buy or move on. The lone saleswoman stood a few feet away from the room door, looking hopefully at Mindy.

"That is a gorgeous party dress," the elegantly dressed woman observed in a syrupy sweet tone, nudging her chin in its direction.

"It is," Mindy agreed, looking at it once more. "Not gonna lie, the price shocked me a little."

"Oh, but you're paying for _unmatched quality_," the woman insisted in a low tone, noticeably guiding Mindy towards the checkout counter. "And you are _clearly_ a woman who cares about quality! I mean, just look at you! I'm willing to bet that this dress looked like it was made for you, and that's coming from someone who has seen more than her fair share of women interested in it."

Mindy tried to conceal an eye roll, then addressed the woman as she made her way to her post on the other side of the counter.

"Look," she sighed, "You should know that I'm actually a very intelligent woman who knows a sales pitch when she hears one. But as heavy-handed as you were," she takes a final appreciative glance at the dress, "you're right in this case, so I'll take it."

The saleswoman instantly dropped her façade. "As long as you're buyin', lady," she said with a suddenly present Brooklyn accent. The shift in demeanor took Mindy by surprise, but she was in too good of a mood to be truly offended.

Exiting the shop with her newly acquired purchase, she felt like a proud hunter dragging a fresh kill back to her lair. She imagined the perfect spot in her closet for it, an unoccupied space at the end of the rack with enough room to allow its fabulousness to sufficiently breathe. The catalogue of shoes in her possession zipped through her head until she landed on a pair of glittery silver Oscar de la Renta pumps. Pairing the ensemble together and adding the final touch of freshly sleeked hair ignited a sudden desire to test this look on an unsuspecting public. Without much deliberation, she decided that she would return home, but not for long.

* * *

"Can I get you any more cherries for your Roy Rogers?"

Mindy glanced upward at the bartender while pulling her third cherry from its stem with her teeth. "Oh, yes please!"

She nudged her drink towards him and took another look around. Optic Bar was a shiny singles haven with walls tinted burnt orange and gold and, much to Mindy's delight, it had very accommodating bartenders. It was relatively early, but there was still a steady stream of young, smartly dressed New Yorkers occupying as much space as they could, from the bar to the private booths. Though she wasn't really trying to, she felt like a noticeable pop of color amongst the sea of black and slate gray. Her look came out even better than she had imagined, and she enjoyed dressing impeccably for herself for once, rather than the benefit of some hypothetical other.

In the short time she had taken her post at the middle of the bar, her new perspective as the casual barfly had made quite the impression on her. As she looked around, she concluded that the place reeked of a certain desperation. Everyone looked like they were standing a couple inches above their typical posture and trying very hard to look a smidge more interesting than normal. At least a hundred pairs of eyes continuously scanned the crowd in search of something – a friend, a one night stand, a future wife, a meal ticket – constantly darting back and forth. There was a dearth of genuine conversation, though it seemed to be replaced by a growing buzz of incessant chatter. It was as if there was an unspoken agreement between all of the bar goers to keep all conversation as light as possible so that one could easily move on to something more interesting, more beneficial, if needed. She briefly wondered how she would have looked amongst a crowd like this just last week.

Now, as she sat at the bar without any weighty expectations, Mindy had a new appreciation for the cliché of comparing men (and women, to be fair) to hunters in these scenarios. At that moment she could feel a pair of penetrative hazel eyes on her from the other end of the long bar and she honestly felt like prey-in-waiting. Normally this would cause her to jut out her chest a bit and stealthy lick her teeth in case of any possible lipstick residue. Instead, she looked away and pretended not to notice, hoping that the look of total disinterest would ward off all unwanted attention. Sure, he was somewhat attractive with his wavy brown hair and carefully crafted stubble across his jaw, but she was nowhere near ready to have her stress-free bubble popped by some smarmy guy with a bedfellow quota to meet.

She kept her gaze forward, smiling to herself and digging into her purse for her phone. Feeling especially evolved, she decided to send a text to Danny keep him abreast of her achievements.

**Guess who knocked two items off of her list  
****today? I'm sitting at a bar by myself in my new  
****expensive dress. I'm kind of crushing it. :-D**

**To: Danny  
****Mar 10, 9:41 p.m.**

She sent the text and set the phone down on the bar next to her half-finished cocktail. Looking up, she saw the bartender coming towards her with a cloudy blue beverage in a martini glass. A string of sugared berries skewered on a pick laid across the top.

"The gentleman at the bar sends his compliments," he informed her, grabbing a coaster. Mindy looked at the hazel-eyed culprit, who smiled lecherously and lifted his own drink in an unsolicited toast. Mindy groaned.

"Nope, not accepting compliments tonight," Mindy said firmly, waving away the drink before he had a chance to sit it down. She nudged her chin in the direction of a sullen-looking redhead on the opposite side of the bar. "Send it to the girl in the dark emerald top. She seems really pissed off by her sobriety right now."

The bartender tilted his head in suspicion, then looked at the drink before looking back at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"No, you're not expected to, like, pay for it," he explained. "He handled it."

"Then you drink it," Mindy hissed. Her phone buzzed with an incoming text, which she eagerly checked to avoid the reactions of both the bartender and her unwanted suitor.

**From: Danny**

**I still think it's dangerous. Which bar?**

**Mar 10, 9:43 p.m.**

"Still thinks it's dangerous," Mindy mumbled in her customized Danny Castellano impression. She started to reply when she felt someone take a seat on the vacant stool to her right. In a mere second's time she found herself amid a haze of stale-smelling cologne. Without so much as a glance, she could tell she was in the company of the persistent stranger.

"I tried to gift you a drink as beautiful as you are," he said in an inauthentic husky tone. Mindy begrudgingly turned to face the wavy-haired man. "I guess you're not a Blue Hawaiian woman."

"Actually, I'm trying to enjoy a night alone," Mindy informed him bluntly.

His smiled smugly. "That sounds like no fun at all. Porter." He extended his hand for a handshake. Mindy ignored it and opted for a small, disinterested wave.

"Bellatrix," Mindy replied. _I'm not about to waste my good alias on this creep._

"What a lovely name. Maybe I can get you another drink? Or we can skip straight to exchanging numbers. Ladys' choice."

"Oh, God," Mindy groaned. "What part of 'I want to be alone' is so hard to follow?"

Porter gave her a quick look from the top of her dress to her crossed legs. "It's such a waste to be dressed so stunningly and keep to yourself."

Officially upset and greatly offended, Mindy concluded that her time at Optic had come to a close. The desperate stench and empty buzzing was now way too close, her joyous bubble unceremoniously popped. "Okay, Porter, it was nice meeting you. Enjoy the rest of your night." Mindy grabbed two bills from the side pocket of her purse and deposited them on top of the bar.

Stunned, Porter let out a low chuckle into his drink. "Your loss long before mine, sweetheart."

Mindy bit back the urge to slap him across his face, so much so that her palm was shaking. She stood on her feet, smoothed out the front of her dress and grabbed her bag. "You know, I always had this weird fantasy of getting the chance to throw a drink in a jerk's face, but I can't think of a bigger waste of money and decent alcohol." She drained the last sips of her cocktail and grabbed one last cherry. "So, I'm just going to bid you a good night." She took a stop back and plastered a phony smile across her face before speaking with a voice raised loud enough for the entire bar to hear. "And I'm so sad to hear about your crippling sex addiction, but it sounds like just the burning wake up call you needed to get your life together. And judging by the state of matters," Mindy paused to gesture grandly towards his crotch, "I'd up that dose of antibiotics by at least half. I pray for triumph, my friend!"

Cementing the sight of Porter's gobsmacked expression to memory, she turned and made her exit while popping the cherry in her mouth. It wasn't exactly a drink to the face, but the look of disgust on some of the female patrons' faces felt like enough of a victory.

Stepping into the night, Mindy wrapped her arms around her body and pondered her next move. She felt like she should call a cab home, but her stomach currently housed only five maraschino cherries since her lunch. Going home on an empty stomach was less than ideal, and she felt like capping the night with a decent meal. As a cab whizzed by with no attempt from her to hail it, Mindy headed down the walkway. She recognized her proximity to the practice and headed in the direction of a cluster of diners she knew would be open. She was imagining Danny's voice accusing her of being careless when she remembered.

"Crap, I didn't text him back!" she sighed. Mindy was more eager to rub her recent progress with her list than she was to settle any concerns of his. She pressed the phone button rather than text, selected his name, and pressed the call button. It rang three times before he picked up.

"I knew it'd be a matter of time before you'd call for me to come rescue you," Danny dived in, his tone far too gratified for Mindy's taste. "Well, you caught me just in time. Which bar?"

"Oh, please," Mindy scoffed. "I don't need you to save me, conceited. And I'm not at the bar anymore; that's already checked off my list! I am looking for something to eat, though." After a beat she added, "And what do you mean I caught you in time? Are you at the hospital?"

"I was. False alarm. Stopped by the office to get some paperwork out of the way. So you're roaming the streets by yourself in search of food? How do you just glide from one dangerous scenario to the next?"

"With style, my dear friend," Mindy retorted proudly. "I'm not too far from the office, you know. Wanna join me?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm starving. What're you thinking? Burger Zen?"

Mindy twisted her mouth in thought as she considered her options. Rounding the corner she spotted an elaborate neon and chrome sign up ahead and across the street. The letters glowed "Doo Wop Café" and while most would consider the bawdy colors and loud 50s-era music a repellent, Mindy noticed an opportunity to both satisfy her hunger and achieve another goal on her list. Never having dined there before, she heard enough about the place to know that it would certainly be a different experience…an experience that Danny would never agree to, if she told him.

"Actually, there's a diner on 16th that I wanted to go to," she said nonchalantly. "Across the street from McGinty's Pub?"

"Oh, yeah, McGinty's. No, that's not far. I should be there in five minutes. Can you get me a water and a coke?"

"Okay, see you soon."

Mindy hung up then quickly crossed the street, nearing the bopping sounds of Chuck Berry. "Danny might hate this," she warned herself resolutely.

* * *

"I hate this, Mindy. I hate this so much."

Danny sat slumped in the booth and took in all of the over-the-top décor, including their booth designed to look like the interior of a Ford Thunderbird. To his credit, there was a lot to hate: the oversized neon-piped jukebox, the plethora of vinyl records dangling from the ceiling, the overuse of argyle and checkerboard, and the large screen built into the wall flashing scenes from a nondescript beach movie. Even Mindy had her fill of the overacting wait staff, hired to portray different cinema-like archetypes: the all-American jock, the chaste bookworm in a poodle skirt, the saucy ladies in pink jackets, and greased car enthusiasts with grossly slick hair and pleather jackets. None of it felt like the trip back in time the establishment intended it to be; it came across as an unknowledgeable restaurateur's bright, stereotypical vision fueled by multiple watches of Grease.

Still, it was fun, it was different, and it was something that Mindy had wanted to try for a long time, but never suggested to her dates in lieu of appearing flexible. She was happy to live this moment in all its cheesy glory. Watching an uncomfortable Danny huff and puff in his scrubs felt like an added bonus.

"Relax, it's all in good fun," Mindy said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Danny leaned forward with his arms crossed. "Who's having fun? Who even _needs_ to have fun right now? I just wanted a steak, served to me with very little pretense."

"Eww, _'served to me'?_ That sounded a little snooty."

"It's not snooty, it's just having the ability to enjoy a meal like a normal person. I feel like I'm surrounded by the cast of Fame and they won't let me order anything normally here! I ask for a steak with mashed potatoes and the punk kid is all 'Oh, don't you mean a…' – what was it called?"

"The Classic T-Bird with a side of mashed Spudsy Holly," Mindy supplied with an amused grin.

"Yeah! I mean, c'mon! Just give me my damn food!"

"Okay, there's no need to get so riled up," Mindy countered. "Plus, it goes with the obvious theme! Come on. Frankie Lymonade? That's clever."

Danny shrugged, leaning against the table. "Well, at least you're making progress on that list of yours. That's a good thing, right?"

Mindy instantly perked up. "It is! And I'm thrilled by your enthusiasm, Danny!"

"I don't know if I'd call it enthusiasm, but I'm happy you're happy. And you look beautiful. I meant to tell you earlier."

Mindy thought it might have been the unexpected nature of the compliment that stilled her breath for a moment. She blinked a few times before answering. "Uh, thank you!"

Danny gave a short nod and a took a sip of his coke. "So, Mindy, you're working on your running, you've got your pricey dress, drank alone at a bar like a weirdo, and you've been to your theme restaurant. What's next?"

She shrugged and began to answer when the sound of a wailing alarm tore through the restaurant. Some of the customers, including Mindy and Danny, searched the place for the source while other, more knowing regulars looked either excited or tolerant.

"It's haaaaaalf past the hour!" An overly eager voice blared through the sound system. "Time to put on your Blue Suede Shoes and shake your Bo Diddleys, get ready for the Doo Wop Sock Hop!"

"Mindy, what the hell is happening?"

"Oh, like I know?! I've never been here before!"

Both looked terrified as all of the servers flooded the middle of the restaurant with microphones. One young woman with pinned-up hair and a glossy pink jacket took center stage.

"Don't be shy, everyone! Get on your feet! C'mon Doo Woppers, let's rock!"

"Jesus," Danny mumbled, putting his head in his hands. "I'm so goddamn hungry."

"This might have been a miscalculation," Mindy concluded, rubbing her temple gingerly. The music flared and the servers began to sing.

"_We go togeeetheer like rama lama lama ka dinga ka dinga dong!"_

"All I wanted was a steak."

"All I wanted was an enriched life and some cheese fries."

"_Chang chang, changitty chang shoobop, that's the way it should beee-eeee!"_

"We would've been in and out of Burger Zen in minutes, Min!"

"Hey, if you want to start, like, an Al Pacino list and put 'eating at Burger Zen' on it, then be my guest!"

"_We're one of a kiiiiind like –"_

The two looked up to find a microphone held to Danny's face. He groaned and kept his focus on Mindy, wordlessly casting blame on her for this strange turn of events.

The man, persistent, signaled for the rest of the performers to move on. _"Our names are siiiiiigned –"_

With the microphone back at his lips, Danny spoke, "Mindy, I'mma punch this kid in the face, I swear."

Mindy shooed the server away with wide eyes and the singers migrated to the other side of the dining room.

"I've experienced enough," Mindy declared. "I'm gonna pay and ask for the food to go. We can eat it at my place, if you want."

"That's fine, but you're not paying for me," Danny challenged.

Mindy glared. "Why not? I asked you here and it was a disaster. It's only right."

"I don't care, I'm not freeloading a dinner off of you!"

"Oh, geez, Danny, can't anyone do something nice for you without your weird machismo springing a leak?"

Danny rolled his eyes and planted his palms on the table, pushing himself up. "Whatever, I've gotta use the bathroom. Be right back."

He stood and slid the booth's car door open before stepping down the two short steps. Mindy took out her phone and pulled up a snapshot of the list. Reading it over for the umpteenth time since its inception, her eyes fell on the last item: "Start a clothing line." She had yet to change it, mainly because she couldn't think of anything else she wanted to do. Speed dating seemed like an ideal addition, for a moment. A group of men actively vying for her attention without having to deal with all the usual awkwardness and guesswork? Mindy figured she should jump at the opportunity, theoretically. Looking at the leather jacket sitting in the empty space across the table, she smiled and was instantly reminded of how precious her free time was. She enjoyed spending it alone as much as she enjoyed being selective about who she spent it with.

She exited the list and sent some texts to her friends for a few minutes until Danny returned with a large plastic bag. "I've got our food; let's get the hell out of here."

"But Danny," Mindy called out as he was grabbing the jacket, "we can't just leave; we need to pay first!"

"Already took care of it," Danny answered plainly as he slipped his outerwear on. "We just need to leave. I think they're gearing up for an encore."

Mindy quickly gathered her belongings and followed Danny out of the establishment. Once they were back on the sidewalk they made a beeline for the other side of the street. Mindy finally let out a laugh, tickled by the ridiculous events of their night.

"Okay, that was all a bit much, even for me," she sighed, then turned towards Danny. "And you're a hypocrite, mister! It's not okay for me to buy you dinner, but you can sneak around and pick up the tab?"

"Hey, that was more for my benefit than anything else," he defended. "I had to get out of there. This was the quickest way."

"Mmm hmm, sure," Mindy teased. "It had nothing to do with me looking video vixen hot and you secretly wanting to take me on a date."

"Get over yourself. This was not a date."

"I dressed up, we went out for dinner, and you paid," Mindy argued. "How is that not a date?"

"You didn't dress up for me!" Danny exclaimed. "And you asked me out, remember?"

Mindy shrugged, still smiling. They continued to walk in the direction of the office. After a few quiet moments, Danny added, "Besides…you don't want this to be a date, Min. If it was, it would easily go down in history as the worst date ever."

She considered other dates she'd been on, as well as array of disappointing endings she'd experienced, from general rude behavior to the guy finding love with someone else just a few feet away from her. Mindy looked over to Danny as they walked. He looked back, a half smile on his lips. Even with his litany of complaints and his threats to physically harm a guy probably putting himself through school, Mindy still preferred his company over even her best dates.

"It wasn't even close to the worst," Mindy responded. "Hypothetically speaking, that is." With that, they continued their slow trek in silence.


	5. Chapter 5

**4. Volunteer at a school (Done!)**

"Everything looks amazing, Mrs. Suarez," Mindy informed her patient enthusiastically. She looked over the chart one more time. "Your cervix is nice and closed, I still don't see a need for any further glucose testing, your weight gain has been downright enviable, and the little guy's already in the head-down position. Your blood pressure is slightly more elevated than usual, but I'm not really worried about it."

Mrs. Suarez, a petite woman aside from her round belly, sat perched on the examination table with her shiny flats dangling from one hand and her phone in her other. In her crisp business maternity wear and with her pinned back wavy hair, she nodded her understanding of news that most pregnant women would celebrate. "So, aside from the higher blood pressure, everything is as it should be?"

Mindy nodded. "And your BP wasn't even crazy high. It was the equivalent of someone who just jogged or recently got a little upset. Personally," Mindy placed her hand on her chest, indicating the delivery of a personal, non-professional opinion, "I'd milk the heck out of this and take a day off. Sit around my apartment, eat some Chipotle, watch some Revenge... I'd even write you a note backing you up. But you're an Assistant Principal, right? Doesn't that mean you can basically do whatever you want?"

The woman snorted. "Not quite. And I really can't take a day off right now. I _should_ be able to, in theory - I mean, I _should_ be able to afford a day off every now and again like a normal person - but I've been saddled with some very incompetent interns and they've already managed to ruin one major event today. I can't imagine there'd still be a school standing if I wasn't there to babysit them."

"Well, what about your principal?"

"Oh, THAT idiot? No freaking way."

Something about the way Mrs. Suarez carried herself – perfectly coiffed, extremely responsible, always knew the right questions to ask and only needed to ask them once – made Mindy feel like what she was claiming was closer to truth than fiction. The school probably did need her to run smoothly. _Hell_, Mindy thought,_my life would probably run a lot smoother with Mrs. Suarez running it._

"Your interns can't be that bad," Mindy replied optimistically.

"Yes, they absolutely can!" Mrs. Suarez insisted while checking her buzzing phone. "They've already managed to ruin our annual health fair, which is my major project for the year. All they had to do was secure the damn nurses that already agreed to volunteer." There was an angry sneer on her lips as she described her plight. "But of course, they let it go and the nurses committed to other plans. God, how hard is it to call an office and say, 'Hey, you know that thing you promised to do? Can you still do it?' Now I have all these tents rented for health screenings tomorrow with nobody to administer them."

Mindy tsked sympathetically as she notated Mrs. Suarez's chart. "That blows. I'm sorry."

The woman shrugged and gave Mindy a sad smile. "Thanks. The whole thing's been stressing me out - not good for the baby, I know - because I know they're itching to blame the pregnant woman for screwing things up. At least I have Dr. Bishop, but one doctor's not gonna cut it."

As Mindy continued to annotate the chart, she felt her curiosity build. "So, what exactly were these nurses going to do? Were they supposed to give, like, a presentation or do a skit?"

"No, nothing like that," Mrs. Suarez answered. "They were just going to give basic health screenings to the kids. You know, check their blood pressure, prediabetic testing, nothing too in-depth."

"Oh, I can do that!" Mindy found herself suddenly saying. She never intended on offering her services, but the look of hope on her patient's face further influenced her desire to help.

"Are you serious? You would do that for me?"

"Sure. That's easy stuff. What time is the fair?"

"Eleven a.m. until two p.m., Joseph Grossbeck High School," Mrs. Suarez answered in a rush. She leaned over, grabbed her purse, and immediately began digging through its contents. "Would you be comfortable answering some of the students' questions? The girls, especially."

Mindy smiled brightly at the idea of educating some of the young girls, relishing the opportunity of acting as a role model. "Of course! That's shouldn't be a problem. But I should warn you." Mindy pointed at her mouth and raised her eyebrows. "Like, no filter. None at all."

Mrs. Suarez waved the warning away as she extricated a business card and pen from her purse. "I'm not worried. It's a health fair, they know what's up. Would you know of two more volunteers, by any chance?"

Mindy thought for a moment. She could easily make one of the nurses accompany her. Hopefully, she could convince one of the other partners that the presence of two caring doctors might drum up some additional business.

"I don't think it'll be a problem," Mindy replied, tucking the chart under her arm and grinning kindly.

Smiling brightly, Mrs. Suarez grabbed Mindy's hand and squeezed. "Thank you so much, Dr. Lahiri! You're a saint!" She scribbled something on the back of the business card. Once done, she pointed out some of the details. "Just have the guard point you in the direction of this room over in this building, then I'll escort you to the football field. This is so great! I can't wait to get back to my office and gloat." With a little thought, the woman added, "and help the kids learn the importance of health, obviously."

As she led Mrs. Suarez out of the room with the promise to see her the next day, Mindy looked around the practice for potential volunteers. She could figure out which nurse to take later. The challenge was convincing one of the doctors to spend three hours around high school children, not to mention getting the remaining doctors to cover their appointments. She mentally ordered the doctors by preference: Danny would clearly be her first choice, then Jeremy. Peter would be the most fun to have tag along, but the idea of having him at his self-proclaimed "bro-est" around impressionable high school males rang dangerous. She didn't want that on her conscience, no matter how good of a doctor he was.

With that, Mindy made her way to Danny's office, ready to be as persuasive as she possibly could. She simultaneously prepared to make her case to Jeremy when Danny inevitably said no. She got to the door and gave a single courteous knock, warning him of her intentions to enter regardless of actual permission.

"Hey, Danny," she greeted after opening the door. She slipped into his office to find him leafing through a few documents, his red glasses secured high on the bridge of his nose. He looked up and twitched the right corner of his mouth in a smile.

"Hey, I'm glad you're here. I've got something for you."

Mindy tilted her head back in surprise as he detached the magnetic middle of the readers and let the fall around his neck. He pulled a newspaper clipping out of his top drawer and held it out for her to take.

"I saw this ad in the paper and thought you might want to take a look at it."

Mindy stepped forward and took possession of the clipping, giving it a quick look-over. She smiled. "Cooking lessons?"

"The guy giving them owns a bakery on Harmon Street."

"Yeah, Rinaldi & Sons! I love that place!"

"He's a family friend," Danny added. "Really sweet man. He's conducting classes at night in his bakery's kitchen. And it's not just sweets, either. Look at the schedule of classes: pasta primavera, crepes, eggs benedict, all kinds of stuff. You'd like it, I think."

"Ooh! He also teaches wine pairings!" Mindy pointed out with great interest.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that I don't get as much. You don't need a different type of wine with every bite. Beer goes great with everything."

Mindy carefully folded the advertisement and slid it into her lab coat pocket. "That was really thoughtful of you, Danny, thank you so much."

"You're welcome," he said, his voice a little softer. "I hadn't heard too much about your bucket list in two weeks, aside from our runs. I thought this would be good for it."

The mention of the list managed to pull her attention back to the matter at hand. "Well, I'm actually about to accomplish a little more of it, but I need your help. One of my patients needs volunteers for her health fair tomorrow and I offered to help, but she still needs a couple more professionals. And I know free labor isn't all that desirable-"

Mindy was cut off by a raise of Danny's hand. "Blood pressure screenings, I'm guessing?"

"And prediabetic diagnostics."

"When?"

"Tomorrow, eleven to two. Grossbeck High."

Danny shrugged. " 'kay, I'll help."

For the second time within minutes Mindy was caught off guard by Danny's generosity. She waited a few seconds for him to take it back or reveal that he was joking. He did neither.

"Oh, wow. Just like that?"

He gave her a pointed look. "Should I have put up more of a fight?"

"I thought you would have," she answered honestly.

Danny crossed his arms over his chest, his dark blue button up shirt tight across his arms. "Well, you need me, don't you?"

The question lingered while Mindy pondered it for a moment. Did she truly need him? Yeah, she guessed she did. She nodded.

Danny nodded back. "Alright, then. I get to pick the place for lunch today."

Mindy understood that this was all he demanded in exchange for his time, so she agreed without further argument. "That works. Thank you, Danny. I'm about to make one of the nurses come with us."

"Make Tamra do it," Danny said, returning his glasses to their original position on his nose. "I think I remember Morgan saying something about him having a beef with one of the deans over there. I don't know how that's even remotely possible, but we don't need that drama."

* * *

"Do you even know how dramatic you sound right now?"

"I don't know, Danny! Do you even know how _condescending_ you sound right now?"

The two doctors quibbled near the bleachers, hissing at one another while representatives from a local dentistry made a brief presentation. Danny leaned over, his features screwed in annoyance. "I was just helping you! There's no need to be a brat about it."

"Hey!" Mindy turned and jabbed a finger sharply at his chest. "Don't call me a brat, you old coot! And you weren't helping me; you were fathering me - which is weird because I'm pretty sure I left my father back in Boston."

Danny let out a brief, curt snort of laughter. "Oh God, I could never have you as a daughter. Talk about a waking nightmare."

At that Mindy jammed a thumb in his ribcage, which caused Danny to swallow a yelp of pain. "Stop fucking poking me so hard! Your nails are like talons!"

"Next time I'll draw blood, bitch!"

"_Shhhhh!"_

One of the bespectacled teens in the front row turned to shush them. Mindy's mouth gaped open, indignant. Danny glared at her narrowly. "Yeah, Mindy, hush!"

"Are you an overbearing father figure or a petulant child, Danny? Pick one."

Danny prepared to say something back when a polite smattering of applause sounded throughout the crowd. Spotting Mrs. Suarez at the other end of the bleachers, Mindy nudged her way past Danny to meet her. The two were led to their tent, where Tamra had already finished setting up. Danny wordlessly took his spot far from the two women and next to the fourth volunteer, a large tattooed man with green scrubs and a kind face. Mindy assumed this was the Dr. Bishop that Mrs. Suarez had mentioned during her appointment. He looked so strange standing next to Danny: tall, a large tattoo peaking out of the sleeve of his scrubs, and in a seemingly good mood vs. short, straight-laced and tightly wound. Mindy would have chuckled at the sight if she weren't so focused on remaining livid.

"I hate being around high school boys," Tamra said suddenly, toying with the Velcro of her blood pressure cuff. "They're way more mature than Ray-Ron. Some of them even have better jobs than him! I always end up going home, rethinking stuff."

Mindy nodded, knowing not to make any commentary regarding Tamra's relationship with her boyfriend, as undesirable as he was. Tamra tossed her cuff on the nearby table.

"So, are you and Dr. C gonna fight all day?"

"We'll be fine as soon as he apologizes."

"Psh," Tamra hissed. "I better settle in, then. I'm in for a real petty afternoon."

"Hey!" Mindy replied. Tamra shrugged and addressed their first student visitor.

The health screening tent saw a steady stream of both adults and teens. Sufficiently distracted, Mindy felt her mood lift considerably as she talked and answered a lot of the kids' questions. She cautiously fielded a few reproductive health questions, but was pleased to find that most of the girls were curious about life as a doctor. Mindy even received a few visits from male students, each feeling bold enough to flirt with her openly (which managed to both flatter her and make her feel extremely uncomfortable). Talking to the youth and watching her wisdom be met with expressions of awe reminded her of how much she enjoyed the position of mentor. The last time Mindy recalled feeling helpful in this capacity outside of work was her stint in Haiti. That felt like ages ago.

Mindy noticed that Danny had his share of young male patients, to all of which he seemed to be very attentive. He even seemed semi-engaged in conversation with most of them. Even in her angry state, she couldn't deny the adorable nature of the sight. She made a note to ask him about some of the questions he received once they were done fighting.

Mrs. Suarez kindly fetched them sandwiches from one of the neighboring stands for a brief lunch break. Immediately afterwards, a girl with curly dark hair and an oversized backpack entered the tent. Mindy greeted her with a smile, which the girl did not return.

"Are you still given health screenings?" the girl asked with a sullen voice. She wouldn't quite meet Mindy's eye.

"Of course!" Mindy replied cheerfully. "Wanna take a seat?"

The girl sat her bag on the table with a loud, creaking thud and sat in Mindy's chair.

"So!" Mindy approached brightly, not wanting to draw attention to the girl's sad disposition. "Blood pressure, prediabetes, or both?"

"Both. It's for extra credit."

"So I've heard. If you have any questions, I'm Dr. Lahiri."

The girl nodded as Mindy grabbed the cuff and a small blood sugar test from the box. Removing the cap from the finger prick stick, she warned, "You may feel a slight sting, but it'll be quick. Any history of diabetes in your family?"

When the girl didn't answer, Mindy looked up to find her staring off towards the bleachers. Curious, Mindy followed the girl's line of vision. Two enthusiastically affectionate teens were wrapped around each other, kissing deeply. She couldn't make out much of their features, but they appeared to be wearing matching football player and cheerleader uniforms. Mindy scrunched her nose at both the obnoxious display and the clichéd look of it all.

"Ugh," she blanched. "Get a room, am I right?" Suddenly the girl was furiously wiping away tears. _Oh boy_, Mindy thought with a small sigh. Crying was a hard thing for Mindy to ignore, even if her track record with children wasn't the best.

"Uh," she paused, "do you know them?"

The young girl nodded and tried to suppress a sniffle. "That would be my ex…and he hasn't even been my ex for a full week."

"What a dick!" Mindy cried, unable to tame her visceral response to such insensitivity. Feeling the many eyes on her and noting the girl's subtle mortification, she lowered her voice. "Sorry, but seriously! That's evil. Are you okay, uh…"

"Sydney."

"Sydney, hi. Are you okay?"

Sydney wiped away another tear. She leaned forward. "It's such bullshit, you know? So typical. We've been friends since freshman year and started dating our sophomore year. He tells me he's in love with me, we're extremely happy, then he's suddenly a sports prodigy and makes the football team, and then BAM. All of a sudden it's a problem that we're not having sex." She looked over at the new couple with vitriol. "He starts to pull away and ten days later, I'm dumped. Three days after that, Max is dating Trinity Harper."

Midway through the story Mindy had pricked Sydney's finger and saturated the strip. She wiped away the residual drop of blood and unwrapped a miniature band-aid as she shook her head. "Ugh, Sydney, what a creep." Mindy turned to the couple again to find them still intertwined and kissing franticly. Trinity's leg was beginning to wrap around Max's waist, which Mindy instantly felt disgusted by. "Jesus, how lax is this school's PDA policy? This is technically child porn, right?"

Sydney sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her nose. "Maybe it's my fault. Maybe I shouldn't have been such a prude – "

Mindy held up a hand to stop the tirade. "Okay, there's no way I'm going to listen to you talk like that and not say anything." Mindy pulled her chair closer to the girl to allow herself to talk more candidly.

"Okay, Sydney, here's the deal. I didn't date until I was in college; however, I had enough girlfriends to see this happen over and over again. You need to know that this," Mindy gestured at the kissing couple, "is destiny and you, my dear, where previously in the way of that."

Sydney's eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry, is this supposed to make me feel better?!"

"Hush and let me finish. Guys like Max are always, _always_ in the search of what's easiest. As soon as you made it harder for him to have sex, he moved on to someone who, assumingly, wouldn't challenge him as much. What's going to happen now is they're going to run pretty hot and heavy for a while. She's going to eventually get pregnant – by the look of things she'll be in my office in a month – and he's going to freak the hell out because now, suddenly, his life is no longer easy. She'll grow up significantly - possibly go to school, maybe even work two jobs to support this family of theirs - while he's off somewhere, being a coward and looking for the next easy thing. As soon as he finds it, he'll be gone and dodging child support."

Mindy's assertion left Sydney horrified, her mouth hung open and her eyes darting back to her ex. "Max would never do that…I don't think."

Mindy shrugged and fixed the band-aid over the pricked skin of Sydney's finger. "Maybe not, but whether he would or wouldn't is not going to make a difference to you one bit. I'm well acquainted with your backpack: heavy, the seams literally bursting with AP books, supplies jabbing you in the back…what are you planning to study in college?"

"Marine biology."

"Oh, sweetie!" Mindy said with a smile. "You're going to be way too busy and way too successful for this to even matter to you, like, after this week! Let them have this. Let this be Trinity's new problem. And who knows? He might totally break her heart, too, and then she'll reach out to you to talk about how much of an awful jerk he is. Then you guys can compare notes over a fun brunch and become the greatest buddies! He could be kissing you into a new best friendship right now!"

With the heel of her hand Sydney wiped away the last of her tears and tucked some of her thick hair behind her ears. "Wow, that was all very…elaborate and highly hypothetical." She smiled a smile that Mindy found to be very pretty, even with red-rimmed eyes and her cheeks a little blotchy from crying. "People say the stuff that happens in high school doesn't matter at all once you graduate. Is that still true?"

Mindy nodded, her smile a little softer. "For the most part, yeah."

Sydney considered this for a moment, then nodded as if she had arrived to a big conclusion. "Well, that's something to look forward to, at least. I can live with that. Thanks, Dr. Lahiri. I'm beginning to feel a little better."

Mindy patted Sydney's shoulder reassuringly. "Good! Now, I'm going to take your blood pressure and it's probably going to be a little elevated right now due to your emotions, but I have this trick: think about Joe Manganiello shirtless and professing his undying love to you, then come back in ten minutes."

* * *

The fair winded down as two o'clock neared. Tamra started to clear away some of the pamphlets while Mindy folded their banner and placed it in a large tote bag. She heard the chair behind her squeak with a new occupant. When she turned around, she discovered the new arrival to be Danny.

"Hey," he murmured. "You think you have enough time to check my BP?"

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Check it yourself."

"I would…but my stuff is already packed. It would help me out a lot if you did it."

She understood that this was an olive branch of sorts, but she wasn't quite ready to forgive. She dug into her tote and purposely retrieved a cuff that was too small for Danny's arm. She secured it over his bicep and pumped away until the cuff ballooned tightly around his arm.

"Geez, Min, that's way too tight!"

"Oops," she replied half-heartedly, barely looking at the meter for a few seconds before detaching the cuff's Velcro edges.

"So how's my blood pressure?"

"Sky high."

"Not shocked."

Mindy placed the cuff back in her bag, then turned to squarely face Danny, who remained seated as he gently grabbed her elbow.

"Look, Min, I'm sorry for the way I acted today, alright? Things on the D train can get dangerous, you know that. So when that guy approached us with the candy and it looked you were actually going to take it –"

"I wasn't!" Mindy interjected. "I'm not an idiot! I was just curious as to why the labels were written in Russian!"

"I know, I know, I just…" Danny ran a free hand through his hair. "Mindy, you know how I get when it comes to the people I care about. For a moment I thought you were putting yourself in harm's way, so I jumped in. You're clearly an intelligent woman. I know you can look out for yourself and wouldn't purposely do anything stupid. I didn't act like I knew that, though, and I overreacted."

Mindy softened at his sincerity. Her eye caught Danny's hand, which maintained a light hold of her elbow. "Thank you for the apology."

"Yeah?" The hopeful expression he wore reminding Mindy of a puppy, the thought eliciting a tiny smile from her as he stood to his feet.

"Yeah," she nodded. Danny tugged Mindy closer to his body as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She accepted his embrace by wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek on his chest.

"Okay, so no more being mad at me, alright?" he proposed, his voice muffled by his own cheek lying across the top of her head. "For today, at least."

"Mmm hmm," she agreed. "Sorry, I called you an old coot."

She felt Danny's short chuckle rumble in his chest. "You're always calling me some variation of old."

"I know, but I'm sorry today."

"Forgiven."


	6. Chapter 6

**3. Take a cooking class. (Done – we made cupcakes!)**

Mindy tapped the door with her knuckle in rapid succession before poking her head into his office. "Hey, Danny," she greeted softly.

He appeared to still be settling in for the day, looking up with a smile as he dropped his jacket over the back of his chair. "Hey, missed you on the train this morning! Late delivery?"

"Not exactly," she answered, stepping into the office carrying a large rubber domed caddy with a pink handle. "I made cupcakes this morning! I learned the recipe from that cooking class you recommended."

"Oh yeah? You never mentioned you were going. How was it?"

"Good!" she replied squeakily, internally cringing at the forced cheeriness in her voice. "It was really great. I just wanted to drop off a cupcake as a thank you for the recommendation." She propped the caddy on the edge of his desk as she opened the lid and pulled out a large cupcake in a pink paper cup. It was topped with dark chocolate frosting and decorated with the initials "DC" in red. Mindy held it out in the palm of her hand for Danny to take.

"Oh, wow," he marveled. "You didn't have to do that."

Mindy shrugged and gave him a tight lipped smile. "It's no biggie. I hope you like it." Resealing the caddy, she turned around and headed for the door.

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

Mindy turned back around and attempted her best "What Are You Talking About" expression: head tilted to the side, eyebrows furrowed, forehead creased, and her mouth forming a small "O." Danny placed the cupcake on his desk and spoke before she had the chance.

"Don't bother denying it," he said. "It's written all over your face. Plus, you didn't brag even a little about your newly acquired baking skills. That's not like you."

She looked up at the ceiling and blew out a sigh, wishing that she were better at hiding her emotions. _Acting class_, Mindy thought to herself decidedly. _Instead of starting a clothing line, I'll take an acting class._"It's not a big deal."

"Try me," he countered as he spotted some frosting on his thumb. He brought it to his mouth and licked it away. Mindy couldn't decipher which made her uncomfortable: the act itself or the fact that she noticed. She shook her head and diverted her attention to the floor with a curt laugh.

"I don't want to drag you into my drama."

"Oh, please," Danny teased. "You're always dragging me into your drama. Now I'm offering my surrender and you're suddenly discreet?"

"Hey!" Mindy snapped. "I can be discreet!"

Taken aback by her outburst, Danny made his way around his desk and met her on the other side. "I know, Min, I'm teasing! C'mon, give me that." He took the caddy out of her hands and placed it on his desk. "Sit and tell me what's going on."

She hesitated for a moment. Distracting herself hadn't helped. Cupcakes for breakfast, shockingly, hadn't helped. Maybe talking would. She took a seat while Danny leaned against his desk.

"Casey got married yesterday." Her revelation was met with silence and raised eyebrows. "And he didn't even have the decency to marry a bleach blonde with an anatomically impossible body so that I could accuse her of being a gold-digging tramp. He found a nice, pretty woman and they seem like they're actually in love."

Not knowing what else to say, Danny mumbled, "I'm sorry, Mindy."

"It's not that I want to marry him or anything," Mindy rushed to clarify. "That's not it at all. I guess I'm just kind of at a loss."

"How so?"

Mindy found Danny's voice to be strangely soft. It made her want to run and inexplicably spill her deepest feelings at the same time. She imagined that this was what therapy felt like.

"Well," she continued cautiously. "When we were together, it just seemed like he was always in search of something else, something to supplement me with. Weird career changes, freakin' Haiti…it made me feel like I wasn't enough, you know? Like there was still a void to fill, even with me there. Then we break up and all of a sudden he gets his life together, starts this successful business, and **then** he finds the love of his life?! I want to be happy for him, but I can't help but wonder…what was so wrong with me that he couldn't make it work for us?"

It was a concern that had festered in the deepest nook of her mind ever since she discovered Casey's impromptu nuptials on Facebook. Waking her from her sleep, she tried to drown it out by making cupcakes, doing chores, and denying its existence. Hearing her voice acknowledge it brought her close to tears. She took a deep breath and looked at her shoes, willing her eyes to remain dry. She didn't want Danny to get the wrong idea. She was a little down and quite self-conscious, but not heartbroken.

"Okay, Mindy," Danny sighed. "Casey seemed nice enough, but he always came across as kind of an idiot to me." When Mindy snorted and attempted to hide a tiny smile, Danny insisted, "I mean it! He talked like a cartoon, he seemed like he was trying a little too hard to be cool, and he always had you feeling like you weren't enough. He's **still** doing it and he's on the opposite side of the country. Min, look at me."

She tilted her head upward to find Danny leaning forward, carefully establishing eye contact with her. "You're enough. You're wonderful."

"You have to say that –"

"I don't have to say or do anything," Danny interrupted. "And I don't expect you to feel better about it right away. I just don't want you thinking that you have to change something about yourself. He's married now? Great! Congratulations to them both. He's her problem now. You'll find someone who will appreciate you. You'll find a guy who knows exactly how lucky he is."

Mindy could almost hear the audible _whoosh_ of all the air leaving her body. It wasn't the first compliment he'd ever paid her, but his desperation for her to feel better was overwhelming. That alone – that want for her cheer up and resume her usual self – made her smile.

"Thank you, Danny. That's really sweet of you. You're right, I won't feel better about it overnight, but I'll be fine. "

Danny gave a quick nod. "Is that the only thing bugging you?"

Mindy slumped a little in the chair. "I'm just stressed, in general. All of my patients seem to be going into labor this week. This morning was the first morning I've spent at my apartment in days and instead of sleeping, I was having a sugar-induced freak out. I made _a lot_of cupcakes, Danny."

He smiled and crossed his arms. Nodding towards the caddy, he asked, "Are those for the office?"

"No, they're mine!"

With a lopsided smile, Danny mumbled "Of course."

"I'm just tired all the time," Mindy sighed. "And it's affecting everything. I don't have enough energy to focus on things here, it takes me forever to accomplish one thing, and then I leave worrying about the stuff I didn't finish until I get back to the practice the next day. It's a vicious cycle!"

"Maybe it's time for a vacation," Danny suggested. "Aren't you supposed to be going on some solo voyage? I still think that's a bad idea, by the way."

She hadn't planned on bringing up the subject in front of him mainly because she didn't want to admit that she was rethinking the idea. He had been an exceptionally good friend, however, so she determined that he had earned an opportunity to gloat.

"You might be right," she confessed. "As soon as I started to look into it I kept getting all these signs that I shouldn't go: the trip I want is sold out, another cruise capsized on the coast of wherever-the-fuck, or the first link that pops up when I google local ports is an article called '10 Reasons to Never Go On a Cruise," which I really should not have read. It's a cesspool of disease, Danny. I cannot be adrift at sea when a norovirus hits. I'd sooner jump."

Danny rubbed the light stubble on his chin in thought. "I'm sure it's not nearly as bad as it seems. You can just go a little later and in the meantime, take a day off or leave a little early this week. It wouldn't be hard to cover you."

Mindy shrugged and pushed herself to her feet. "I have so much to do, I really can't even entertain the idea of taking a day off. Soon, though, I think." She grabbed her cupcake caddy from Danny's desk, then leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again for the pep talk, Danny."

"Thank _you_ for the cupcake," he replied with a satisfied grin as he rubbed her upper arm comfortingly. "Really give that day off some thought, okay?"

Mindy simply nodded and made her way out of his office. "If you want another cupcake, you know where to find me," she offered over her shoulder.

"One is enough!"

"Must you always be the wettest of blankets, Danny?"

* * *

Days later, Mindy still found herself splitting most of her time between the practice and the hospital, sans the quick shower at her apartment. The couch in the doctor's lounge was beginning to form a groove shaped like her body, which was something she both appreciated and resented. Both Danny and Peter offered to cover her on two separate occasions in order for her to get some rest, but Mindy declined, not wanting to disappoint any of her patients. Plus, she reasoned, she had been an OB-GYN for quite some time; she had known that she was signing up for long stretches of sleepless nights and camp-outs in the on-call room as soon as she started med school.

She did get a very small reprieve late Thursday evening, when she got to go home and sleep in her own bed for a few hours. Another positive she looked forward to was taking her normal commute to work the next day. Somehow her morning didn't feel quite as complete unless she had the opportunity to get into a pointless debate with Danny on the way to work. It was an unorthodox morning ritual that they had fallen into and wordlessly appreciated.

Mindy tried not to be too disappointed when he wasn't on the train the next morning.

It usually meant that he was already at the practice (she could count the number of times she had actually beaten him to work on one hand) or at the hospital for an unscheduled delivery. He had gotten into the habit of texting her whenever it was the latter.

When she arrived at the office, there was no Danny. Nine o'clock arrived and there was still no text. Soon after, Jeremy informed her that Danny had called out of work.

She tried to call and check on him, but he never answered. In an attempt to rile him up, she sent him a text with a glittery image of angels sitting on a rainbow with the caption "Feel better!" Still, nothing. It was beginning to worry her.

Mindy contemplated showing up to his apartment unannounced to make sure he was still alive and well. "Oh, God. What if he's on the floor in his tighty-whities again?" she cringed to herself in the elevator. The image was as much daunting as it was gross.

She exited the building and made her way to the transit station. As she reached the stairs to the underground her phone rang with a tune by Demi Lovato, a ringtone she had picked for Danny. He had a matching ringtone for her, thanks to her stealthy work. She always smiled at the memory of him cursing and demanding her to change it back to its original default tone.

Mindy answered in haste. "Danny, where the hell have you been?"

"Hello to you, too," Danny deadpanned into the receiver.

"Don't nitpick at my manners right now, buddy. I've been worried sick about you!"

"You were worried about me?" She could hear the telltale smirk over the phone. It was comforting to know that he was somewhere being his usual smug self, but she had no intention of telling him that.

"Ugh. Hey, Danny's ego? Can you put Danny back on the phone, please?"

"Yeah, whatever. Look, Mindy, I need you to do me a favor, okay?"

Danny rarely asked for favors. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she finally descended the steps. "Uh, okay. Am I loaning you money? Can you take a check? I have to warn you, though, they're The Notebook-themed, so if this is like a macho bookie-type situation –"

"No, I don't need money!" Danny raised his voice into the phone. "Listen, I need you to pack an overnight bag tonight. Nothing crazy, just a change of clothes, some pajamas, a toothbrush, whatever. I'm gonna come by your place tomorrow morning around eight to pick you up. Before you ask: yes, I'll have breakfast."

Mindy blinked a few times and tried to make sense of his request. When she couldn't, she asked, "So, you disappear all day and once you resurface, you tell me I'm to pack a bag because I'm apparently going somewhere? What is this about?"

"Can't tell you. It's a surprise."

"Okay, Danny, I can't just go somewhere without knowing where we're going. I have to consider climate, atmosphere, weather conditions, possible celebrity run-ins, if a bathing suit is needed – "

"Oh, yeah!" Danny interjected brightly. "You may want to bring a bathing suit. Maybe sunscreen, too."

"That explains nothing!"

"You're obviously still unclear about the concept of a surprise, Min."

She could tell he was enjoying this, which made her more frustrated than she was excited. Then she remembered a bump in his plan.

"If you're planning on me being somewhere overnight, I can't tomorrow. I'm on call."

"No, you're not," Danny denied matter-of-factly. "Not anymore. Peter agreed to cover for you."

Mindy felt a flutter in her chest at the idea of Danny running around behind her back, making sure nothing was in the way of her participating in whatever he had planned. It was hard to resist, which she was sure he knew.

"Danny –"

"Mindy, I promise it's nothing dangerous or elaborate. I wouldn't bother you if I didn't think it was worth it. Just trust me on this one, okay?"

Biting her lip, Mindy considered her options: she could either spend the day in her apartment pretending to do laundry while she surfed Vine for a few hours, or she could go on a secret adventure with her best friend. Even after convincing Peter to take her call shift on a Saturday night – which involved some sort of bribery, no doubt – Danny even agreed to bring her breakfast. He'd thought of everything. Furthermore, she did, in fact, trust him.

"Okay," she agreed. "Eight o'clock, then?"

"Make it six, actually."

"Danny!" Mindy cried. "Six on a Saturday? Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Hey! The earlier, the better!" he argued. "Do you feel like dealing with the early morning nut jobs? I have to wake up even earlier just to meet you, so I'm not doing myself any favors here, either."

With a sigh Mindy acquiesced. "Fine, Castellano. Six it is…with the hottest breakfast sandwich and best coffee you can find!"

"You got it."

They hung up the phone as her train arrived. A bubble of excitement rose in her chest until an unstoppable smile spread across her face. Six in the morning was fine. There was no way her excitement would allow her to get much rest, anyway.

* * *

He showed up at the door at 6:01 a.m. with a slightly greasy bag in one hand and hot coffee in the other. He had his usual messenger bag slung to his side and a kind, slightly sleepy smile.

Mindy stood at her door, dressed in her travel sweats with her hair braided to the side. Her bag (which was modestly packed, a feat that she was very proud of) sat by the door. She looked at Danny curiously as she took the breakfast. "No overnight bag for you?"

"Nah, none necessary," he replied as he leaned forward and grabbed her bag for her. "Light bag! I'm proud!"

"Right?!" she smiled as she flicked the apartment lights off. "So, what exactly is in the cards for me today?"

"You'll see." He led the way down her hall. "I have one condition, though."

Mindy had to laugh at his gall. "You kidnap me, yet _I'm_ the one with conditions to adhere to? How does that work?"

"It just does," Danny laughed, stopping at the elevator and pressing the down button to fetch it. "My only condition is that you don't make a big deal out of anything, alright? I mean it. Do **not** make a big deal out of this."

"Geez, fine," Mindy groaned around her coffee cup lid. "This will just be treated like every other day you sweep me away without giving me any information."

"Good."

She chose not to poke him any further, fearing that he would change his mind and call the whole thing off. Her curiosity was far too peaked to not find out what waited for her on the other end of all this mystery.

When they reached the lobby of her building she could spot a taxi waiting at the curb. They reached the front door to find the cab driver opening the trunk.

"Hey, man, thanks for waiting," Danny said as he handed him Mindy's bag.

"No problem, boss," he responded. "Are we headed to the address you mentioned earlier?"

"Yup."

"You got it."

The driver quickly hopped into his seat while Mindy looked at Danny with curious eyes.

"Where are you taking me, Castellano?"

Danny opened the cab door with a smirk. "I told you not to worry about it, Min."

"No, Danny, you told me not to make a big deal of it," Mindy countered with her own cheeky smirk. "Or am I not allowed to wonder?"

Still smiling, Danny silently helped Mindy into the cab with his hand on her lower back. Once he entered behind her and shut the door, they were off. Mindy took the opportunity to finish her breakfast while Danny kept his vision straight ahead. The companionable silence carried them all the way to their final destination, which Mindy immediately identified as Whitehall Terminal.

"Danny, is this the ferry?" Mindy asked incredulously. The driver was hopping out of the car to retrieve the bag from the trunk while Danny stepped out of the vehicle and offered her his hand. She took it as she ambled out of the car. "Are you taking me to Staten?!"

Danny turned to the driver and exchanged Mindy's bag for a few bills. He finally turned to Mindy, her bag in one hand and his other placed gently on her shoulder. "You've have a rough week," he began tenderly, "and I thought you could use a getaway, even if it was a little one. I get that the cruise didn't quite pan out the way you wanted it to, but that doesn't mean that you can't still get your island. So, I thought I'd help."


	7. Chapter 7

**6. Travel to an island by myself (Heavily amended.)**

Mindy and Danny stood side-by-side against the railing, waiting for the ferry to shove off. From the terminal to her spot on the vessel she had a reoccurring thought: she should be sleeping right now. Mindy should be sleeping away the morning until she eventually had to get up, scour the apartment for clothes slightly more acceptable than her pajamas, eat questionable cereal, then fill the day with tedium until she was eventually called into this hospital.

Instead, she was waiting to head to an island with very little information beyond "I'm going to Staten Island for the day with Danny."

This, in her mind, was far better than anything she could have planned for herself.

"Danny, this is so random." She turned to him. "And so sweet. I can't believe you're –"

"No, no," Danny interrupted with a point of his finger. "No making a big deal out of it. You agreed!"

Mindy shut her mouth in a tight-lipped smile. "Okay, then can I ask, what gave you the idea to do this?" Then she added, "Wait, are you taking me to your mom's house?"

Danny shook his head. "Absolutely not. She's on a road trip with one of her girlfriends. Besides, there's way too much blackmail material over there. There's no way I'm letting you step one foot into my mother's house."

"Rude!"

"Warranted," he retorted with a chuckle. "And as far as the idea goes…I mean, I get that Staten isn't the Bahamas and the ferry is no cruise by a long shot, but I figured that a break from the routine would still be nice. Plus, you're still on a boat and heading towards a weekend getaway. Oh, which reminds me…"

He opened his bag and pulled out two semi-cold canned margaritas, handing one to her before opening his own.

"Danny!" Mindy squealed as she looked around for nosy onlookers. "It's not even seven in the morning!"

"Yeah, and if you were on an actual cruise they'd be shoving drinks in your hand nonstop," he argued. "There's no such thing as an inappropriate time to drink when you're on vacation, right? I believe you drunk texted me that a few months ago from that medical conference in Tucson."

Not willing to argue that logic, she shook her head with a sigh and opened her own can. "That is weirdly irresponsible of you, Danny. I'm proud!"

Danny responded by clinking his can with hers and taking a swig. Mindy mirrored his actions with her beverage and took a long sip, which tasted like spiked fruity syrup and nothing like a real margarita. She only managed to spot "Razz" somewhere in the title before bringing the can to her lips. Her travel companion could be heard swallowing his sip with an "aaaah" just before she turned to him.

"Wow, this stuff is terrible," he assessed like a simple observation rather than a judgment.

"I like it!" Mindy countered. "And it's totally appropriate, fake margaritas and cruises."

Danny smiled into his next sip, returning his attention to the water. A few moments of silence passed before Mindy turned to him again.

"Hey, if we're not going to your mother's, then where are we going?" A sudden dreadful thought fell upon her. "Oh God. Are we going to Stevie's house? Please tell me we're not going there."

"What, you don't want to visit your old boyfriend?" Danny asked, not bothering to mask his amusement. "I'm sure him and his mom would love seeing you again!"

She nudged him in his ribs, her eyes wide. "Don't even _joke_ about that or I swear, I will murder you on your own turf!"

"Who said I was joking?!" That earned him another shot to the ribs. He chuckled, which made it harder for her to hide her smile. "Alright, alright, no Stevie," he conceded. "No worries. I have a place."

* * *

The cab dropped them off in front of a large, two-story avocado green house shaded by a massive tree in the front. The yard looked freshly cut and the large, empty driveway appeared swept of all leaves. Mindy could easily picture a tire swing hanging from the tree while children chased each other in the front yard with toy airplanes and action figurines.

"Danny, where are we?" Mindy asked as he led her towards the five-step stone walk-up, carrying her bag. "Whose house is this?"

Danny used his free hand to fish his keys out of his pocket, singling out a rusty bronze key and easing it into the lock. "It's mine."

"Excuse me?!" Mindy exclaimed. In all the years she had known him, he had never mentioned owning a house in Staten Island. The lock clicked loudly and Danny opened the door wide, allowing Mindy to step in first. Once inside, Mindy instantly found that there was no confusing who owned this house. It had the same dark, earthy color scheme as Danny's Tribeca apartment. Everything looked so polished and immaculate, from the cherry hardwood floors to the brass light fixtures and staircase railing. The house was furnished with rich, buttery leather furniture of a dark chocolate brown. A stony fireplace served as a centerpiece. Mindy wanted to laugh at the stereotypical bearskin rug in front of it, but she was too entrenched in her state of shock to really focus on that at the moment.

Just ahead to the left there was a dining nook outfitted with a glossy, dark wooden dining table and four chairs. It seemed bare, like there should have been ornate place settings and a glass cabinet that held fine china, like the dining room at her grandmother's house. The brass-and-crystal chandelier, however, was such a lovely touch that the absence of décor was almost forgivable.

Mindy followed Danny straight ahead into the impressively large kitchen, which she began to identify as a Danny Castellano trademark. The black granite countertops, roomy island, industrial-sized refrigerator, and pizza oven felt like touches he would insist upon no matter where he lived. Beyond the kitchen sat the huge entertainment room, which strayed so far from Danny's usual aesthetic that it felt like a different house entirely. The walls in this room were a light blue. There was an oversized flatscreen television mounted onto the wall (which seemed a little ostentatious for Danny's simplistic nature) with more dark, plushy furniture on the opposite side. Underneath the TV sat an entertainment center that held a number of game consoles that Mindy couldn't properly identify, but seemed way too difficult for Danny "The iPhone Feels Like a Spaceship" Castellano to navigate. She spotted a fully stocked bar in the far corner, the only thing that fit Danny's style perfectly. The room was split by a short partial wall. On the other side of it were a pool table and a pinball machine. In between the two spaces was a glass sliding door that appeared to lead to a large pool, but Mindy already felt too overwhelmed to explore any further.

"Danny," she finally uttered, almost breathlessly. "How many homes do you have? This _and_ the two condos in Tribeca? As a friend, I feel it's my responsibility to ask…" She leaned forward as if there were other people in the room and whispered, "Are you selling drugs on the side?"

"What?!" Danny cried incredulously while taking a step back. "Are you nuts?! No, I'm not selling drugs, Mindy! And I didn't buy this house; I inherited it from my aunt Audrey years ago."

"Wow." Mindy rotated slowly, letting out a sigh of relief and taking in the space once more. "Your aunt had some expensive, fun taste."

Danny sat the bag down and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. "Not at all. She had advanced Alzheimer's and didn't take care of the place for years before she passed. By the time I took it over the house was almost condemnable. I renovated it from top to bottom and added the pool out back."

"When was that? When did you take it over?"

"A few years ago, just after my divorce," he answered with a sad chuckle. "I kind of tried to turn the place into a little bit of a bachelor pad, if you couldn't tell. Kind of an expensive way of coping with my failed marriage…you know the deal."

With that, Mindy finally made sense of the room they were standing in, which did have the trappings of a man cave. The room then seemed to have a sad undertone as she imagined him filling the space with frivolity he assumed would ease the sting of Christina's betrayal.

"Well, it is certainly very bachelor-esque," Mindy determined with a smile.

"Hey, it was worse! You should have seen it before yesterday. I took down all the tacky neon signs."

Then it clicked. Mindy pointed almost accusingly. "Hey, that's why I couldn't get a hold of you yesterday! You were here preparing, weren't you?"

Danny shrugged. "There was a lot to do! I had clean, mow the lawn, go shopping for all your favorite stuff to stock the fridge with…"

With a gasp, Mindy blew past him and returned to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were two bottles of her favorite white wine, marinating steaks, grapes, cheese, sliced meat, and chocolate occupying most of the shelves. The bottom level housed a number of fruit juices and what appeared to be a hollowed out pineapple wrapped in cellophane. Beaming, she extricated the pineapple and held it up like a trophy.

"Danny!" she squealed in delight. "This is amazing! You've thought of everything!"

Her enthusiasm gleaned a smile from her vacation benefactor. "Yeah, well don't get too excited. I couldn't make a decent pina colada to save my life. You'll have to handle that yourself."

"I'm probably just gonna fill it with wine."

"Hey, it's your pineapple, sweetheart."

Mindy giggled and returned the gutted fruit to the refrigerator. With another look around, she noticed it was stocked with all of her favorite things, but none of his.

"Okay, so where are you storing all of your treats?" she asked, closing the door and facing him. "I don't see any Jell-O or that gross Grape Nut cereal, none of that cottage cheese you like, no bland chicken breasts…if you think I'm sharing my chocolate with you, you're sadly mistaken, mister."

"Why would I need to get a bunch of stuff for me?" he asked, readjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulders before crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like I'm staying."

Even with the absence of his overnight bag, Mindy never considered the possibility of Danny heading back to the city. As nice as the house was, she had no desire to stay behind by herself.

"Danny," she said authoritatively with her balled fists on her hips. "Do you honestly think that I should be the only one to reap the rewards of your hard work? You worked on this all day; at least stay and enjoy it!"

"Mindy, you wrote on your list that you wanted to travel to an island _alone_," Danny argued. "That shouldn't change. I'll stay long enough to grill the steaks for you and I'll leave behind detailed reheating notes. You don't have to worry about cleaning, you can stay as long as you want –"

"But I want you to stay!" Mindy huffed.

"Hey, you're the one constantly touting the importance of learning to treasure your alone time! Wouldn't my presence defeat the purpose?"

Mindy sighed. _It shouldn't be this hard to convince a man to stay in his own house, _she griped internally. She took a step forward with pleading eyes.

"Look, trust me when I say that I'm not experiencing any shortage in alone time these days," she said. "And this weekend doesn't have to be about my list or some major personal journey. This weekend could be about us just hanging out in your sick, secret house. Besides," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the refrigerator, "I know I talk a big game, but there's no way I'm going to be able to eat all that steak by myself."

That earned her a small chuckle from her counterpart, who was looking at his feet and appeared to be considering her stance. In her final effort to soften his resolve, she stepped even closer and coiled her arms around his midsection in a tight hug. She was pleased to feel him respond almost instantly by resting his chin on top of her head and trailing his fingertips up and down her back. Suppressing the urge to hum, she continued.

"Danny, please stay," she implored, her right cheek pressed against his chest. "You know you'd have way more fun here with me than you would back home. And, for the record, I'd have way, way more fun with you sticking around."

Danny stopped the gentle motion of his fingers and wrapped his arms around her back, returning the hug more securely. "Fine," he sighed, though Mindy thought she could detect his smirk through his voice. "But I'm only staying because I'm sure if I leave you'll just order hundreds of dollars worth of Pay-Per-View."

Mindy pulled her head back with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "And what'll happen if I end up doing that anyway?"

Danny narrowed his eyes playfully. "Then you might be writing me one of those Ryan Gosling checks after all."

Over the course of the morning they learned that they were both terrible at most video games (which came as no surprise), Mindy was fairly good at pool (which came as a great surprise), and that she found most of Danny's choices of liquor tasted awful, but could be remedied with lemon and sugar cubes. Around lunchtime she insisted that they watch a Pay-Per-View movie starring Zac Efron while they ate sandwiches. Halfway through the movie, Mindy fell asleep with her head on Danny's shoulder, binding him to the spot. She woke up hours later and immediately felt a pain in her neck and the pressure of Danny's head resting against hers. _I've got to take a shower_, she considered to herself, _but his little snores are so cute! It'd be dickish to wake him up, right? _Her eyes darted downward. Their touching legs created a seam from their thighs to their kneecaps and his upturned hand fell directly in the middle. Mindy stared at his palm. For such a hardworking man there was an unexpected lack of calluses. Without thinking, she let her fingertips lightly brush the top of his palm. Soft, relatively dry…he had nice hands.

Mindy almost yelped when Danny's fingers closed over hers.

"I've gotta start the grill," he stated with a sleepy groan. No effort was made to move off of the couch as he continued to grip her fingertips.

"In this state? You'll start a fire," she teased.

Danny lifted his head, allowing Mindy to look up at him fully. His hair was dented on the side and his eyes were heavily lidded, but his joking nature was still evident. "Somehow I think you fully awake have more of a chance of setting something on fire than me half asleep."

She reached over with her other hand and pinched the underside of his thigh. He stilled her hands with his, an easy smile on his lips. "How do you like your steak?"

"Medium well, you jerk."

He left a lightning-quick kiss on her forehead. "You don't mean that." She watched him lift himself off the couch and head back to the kitchen. She found that she did mean it, but only a little.

* * *

They ate an early dinner and talked a little about work, hypothesizing over which patients would cause trouble for Peter throughout the night. Mindy also offered decorating tips for the dining nook, which Danny continuously declined. For some reason he couldn't see how an oil painting of Ray Liotta in a gilded frame would help "bring the room together," like she guessed.

After a long-awaited shower, Mindy asked for a tour of the pool. Danny agreed and led her through the sliding glass door to a crystal clean pool surrounded by tropical foliage and a small manufactured waterfall at the far end.

"I have a guy that maintains all this while I'm away," Danny explained, answering Mindy's unasked question.

"Oh wow, Daniel," she said with a laugh as she gaped at the tinkling water fixture. "You really pulled out all the stops for your lady trap! A waterfall, two-person loungers, and is that a mini bar? There's a bar, like, five yards away, lazy!"

Danny nudged her slightly, his hands in his pockets. "I was trying to create a relaxing ambiance."

"Those words sounded super strained coming from your mouth." She walked around the edge of the pool to the covered lounging area. She took a seat on the plush lounger, settling in with an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, yeeeeeeaaaah. Yup, all of this – the pool, the pretty flowers, the tiny bar – this place is a certified panty-dropper. I bet the women swoon nonstop from here to the bedroom."

Rolling his eyes, Danny met Mindy on the lounger. He took a seat on the edge next to her. "There haven't been any women swooning or otherwise, Mindy. You and Richie are the only two I've brought here since the renovation."

"Seriously?" Mindy turned her head towards him. "Do you not understand how a bachelor pad works?"

"Yeah, but…I don't know, even with all the changes, this place holds a lot of memories for me. I thought I might be able to turn it into something else by altering it completely, but the thought of bringing random women here still seems weird to me."

She gave him a sad smile and turned onto her side, propping her head up with elbow. "Were you and your aunt close?"

Danny looked back at her, then swung his feet onto the chair and reclined back. He curved his right arm over his head lazily while his left rested in the space between them, plucking at the cushion. "Aunt Audrey was kind of hard to get close to. She was a bit of a battle ax – not surprising with three husbands and no kids – but she just liked order. She had no patience for stupidity and preferred things a certain way. That doesn't quite fit the fun-loving aunt prototype, but we understood each other."

"So that's why you got the house?"

"Well, that and I was the second oldest between me, Richie, and our cousins. Our oldest cousin is kind of a drug-addled loser."

Mindy frowned. "That's so sad."

Danny simply shrugged and continued to look out at the pool. Mindy returned to her earlier reclined position. With little room between them, Mindy rested her right hand on her stomach and allowed her elbow to overlap onto his side. Wanting to lighten the mood, she said, "So tell me a memory, then."

A crooked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Just a random memory?"

Nodding, Mindy pointed towards the waterfall. "Like, what's happening over there? Paint me a picture. Make me feel like I was there."

Danny followed her outstretched hand and squinted a little. His knitted eyebrows made it seem like he was trying really hard to mine a memory acceptable enough to share. "Alright, over there my Aunt had this really awful swing set and my younger cousins and Richie were constantly trying to slide down the slide head-first. I would be at the bottom, calling them dummies and yelling at them to not break their necks."

Mindy giggled and nodded. "Yes, I can see that very clearly."

"Oh, can you?" Danny's laughter rumbled in his chest as both stared out at the horizon. The sun had dulled considerably since the late morning, but the remaining light reflected off the pool's surface. A dog's bark could be heard in the distance, but not much else. There was an ease that Mindy hadn't felt in a long time, and the fact that she was experiencing it at Danny's hand made it all the more exciting. Why, she wondered, hadn't they done this so much sooner? She felt so much closer to him now, which she previously did not think was possible.

She straightened the arm closest to his body and rested her hand on top of his. He countered by turn it over and threading their fingers together. They turned to each other simultaneously, both sporting softened eyes and small, relaxed smiles.

"You didn't have to make today so special for me, but you did so anyway," she uttered in a small voice. "And of all the women you could have brought here, you brought me."

Danny's smile grew as he gently squeezed her hand. "Of course…and I thought you agreed not to make a big deal out of this."

Mindy turned a little more towards him, feeling somewhat pulled by a force that she couldn't see. She gathered that he must have felt it, too, as he shifted to face her more. Neither moved to let go of the other's hand. She realized in that moment that she had no desire to let go.

"I don't know," she replied, her voice barely leaving her throat. "It kind of feels like a big deal, doesn't it?"

She spotted Danny's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard and gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Yeah, Min, it does."

After a few beats of silence, Danny's head neared slowly until Mindy felt his impossibly soft lips upon hers.


	8. Chapter 8

Any mild panic that Mindy felt about kissing her best friend was swiftly eradicated by the feeling of his hand cupping her jaw. She leaned into him and continued to pluck at his full lips with her own, sighing with an air of surrender. So this is what it felt like to kiss Danny Castellano. A part of her had always wondered, best friend or not. The passion and the possessiveness had been long anticipated, and was presently punctuated by the feeling of his hand traveling to the back of her neck to bring her closer. What Mindy hadn't expected was the restraint. Danny always came across as a man that would be eager to devour his conquest whole. Instead, he seemed to be taking the time to breathe her in, allowing himself the luxury of simply relishing the feel of her lips against his. He kissed her like she was this delicate possibility, something that he'd wanted to become a reality for a long time. It was breathtaking.

Mindy pulled away just far enough for their lips to only barely touch, her eyes still closed and her hand clutching his desperately. When she opened her eyes she found his to be heavily lidded, his lips beautifully kiss-swollen and his free hand hovering near her jaw. He gently grazed it with the pad of his thumb from just under her ear to her chin.

He cleared his throat with a low grunt before he spoke. "I'm sorry."

Indignant, Mindy narrowed her eyes and lifted her head a fraction. "Really, Danny? You kiss me into oblivion and your first emotional response is regret?"

"No!" he cried, coming to life as he lifted his head to match hers. "No, God, that's not what I meant!" He kissed her firmly on the lips to emphasize his point, then quickly pulled back. "I don't regret kissing you at all, Mindy. I just know that you've been trying to do your own thing for a long time, that's all. The last thing you need is some guy all over you."

Mindy blew out a breath in relief. "Well, you're right; I certainly don't need some guy all over me." The flash of disappointment across Danny's face caused her to press the hand he had near her cheek further into her skin. When he linked his hopeful eyes with hers, she added, "I guess it's a good thing that you're not just 'some guy,' yeah?"

A ghost of a smile flitted across his mouth just before he dove for hers once again, this time displaying a little more of the dominance she had initially expected.. He rolled just enough to be able to hover over her, the lounger creaking beneath them. As he finally slid the tip of his tongue between her parted lips, he untangled the hand that was clutching hers and slid it under her back, pulling her against him.

She had grown to treasure her single life over the past couple months, but she missed having this kind of connection with someone. After another gentle tug on her lip, she realized that this_, _in fact_,_ _wasn't_ the contact she had missed... she had never experienced anything quite like _this_ before. It felt far more magnified than anything that she may have misconstrued as a spark in the past, and she was unsure if it had to do with the lapse in time since her last bout of intimacy or if it was simply the man she was currently with.

When her tongue collided with his, she released an embarrassingly loud moan. She was confident there would be enough time to process the mortification from that later, but in the heat of the moment all she wanted to do sink into him more. Clawing at the nape of his neck, Mindy intermittently melded her tongue with his in between fleeting licks of his upper lip and gentle nibbles of the bottom.

Then she heard another moan, this time from him. Suddenly, she needed to be with him in a place that was far more private. When he pulled back with an audible _smack_ of their lips, Mindy feared she might dissolve into frustrated tears. Luckily, he spoke.

"Mindy, this wasn't my plan at all," he assured her breathlessly. "I didn't bring you all the way out here to drag you to my bed."

"I think that's apparent, considering your haste to leave this morning," Mindy retorted with a slight tone of frustration. "And, for the record, you wouldn't have to _drag_ me anywhere. My legs work just fine."

The notion elicited a groan from Danny just before he began attacking her lips, chin, and jaw with wet, open-mouthed kisses. As her clothing felt more and more superfluous, she started to find privacy overrated and hastily assessed that the covered area next to the pool would be the perfect place to explore every inch of him. _The fence is high enough, right?_

Her hands flew to the button of his jeans once his kisses reached the column of her neck. Once more, the sound of lips parting from flesh broke Mindy's concentration.

"Woah, MindyMindyMindy," Danny rushed in a single breath. "We've gotta go inside. C'mon, not here."

"Danny, this is fine," Mindy insisted in a hushed tone as she peppered kisses onto his cheek. "I'll be quiet."

"Don't mean to sound cocky here, Min, but no you won't." He stilled her working fingers with his hand. "Just trust me...we need walls." He bent his head and gave her one more urgent, firm kiss on her lips, then pulled away before she could deepen it. With that, he added, "Thick ones."

Mindy started to think that she may have to be dragged into the house after all. She couldn't expect her legs to be able to function properly after such a promise.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked with a heavy breath.

Mindy nodded emphatically. "You?"

He blew out an exasperated laugh, then moved off of her to stand on his feet. "More than you know. Let's go."

She grabbed his outstretched hand and allowed herself to be led into the house. For a shorter man, his strides were long and purposeful. She had difficulty matching his steps as they crossed the length of the kitchen and rounded the corner into the room with the fireplace. They were at the foot of the steps within a flash.

"Watch your step, sweetheart," he mumbled as he began to ascend, careful to maintain his grip on her hand. The view of his taut butt in his pants moving with each step was overwhelming._ Has his ass always looked this amazing?_, she wondered silently._ No way. I would have noticed. It must be all the runn-_

Her train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when she found herself suddenly pressed against the expanse of wall just at the top of the staircase. His lips were fastened to hers once again, reacquainting as if it they had spent months apart when it had only been mere moments. As soon as Danny's hands roamed from the middle of her back to the cusp of her rear, Mindy placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him back. They were both panting.

"Take me to your bed," she commanded. "We can't have sex here. I'll roll down these stairs almost immediately."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just missed you."

Feeling absolutely deflated by his sincerity, she dropped her forehead onto his shoulder with a shaky, defeated laugh. "Oh my God, who _are_ you?"

Laughing himself, Danny dipped until his hands had a firm grip on the back of her thighs and hoisted her into the air, securing her legs over his hips. He spun them around and carried her leisurely to the end of the hall. "Do heavy making out and intense arousal trigger amnesia? I might have glazed over that in med school."

"Jesus, I do not have the strength required for witty barbs right now," Mindy admitted breathlessly, resting her forehead against his. "Just be nice to me, okay?"

The feeling of a hand leaving her bottom was quickly followed by the creak of an opening door. Once inside Danny quickly deposited her not-so-elegantly on a lavish bed. He leaned over her and kissed her languidly. He bunched the front of her shirt until he was able to ghost his fingertips over her bare stomach. Without saying so, he was making it abundantly clear that he was in no hurry.

"Okay," he uttered against her lips. "I can be as nice as you'd like."

He was quite nice. She was far from quiet.

* * *

_Holy shit, Danny Castellano is an excellent cuddler_.

Mindy happily concluded that the earth-shattering sex wasn't that much of a surprise. Between his skilled dance moves, the passion behind even his most mundane convictions, and the intensity of his love, mediocre lovemaking just didn't seem likely. The expectation of it, of course, did not make it any less spectacular.

But he held her with such an ease afterwards that it just genuinely took her by surprise. She had expected some fumbling post-coital discussion, or the need for some physical space in the sticky early summer heat. Instead, he immediately pulled her towards him until she was draped limply over his body, his fingertips worshipping as much of her exposed skin as he could reach. The television played, but neither paid it any attention.

"I think the running's making you flexible," she heard him say, his chest rumbling with his words.

She smiled. "How would you know how flexible I was prior to running?"

"Are you serious?" He chuckled. "You did a side-bend one time to pick a pen off of the floor and you claimed to sprain your hip. You cried!"

"Hey! The hip thing was a flare-up from an old ribbon-twirling injury! Sports injuries don't count."

"Right, right," he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Neither spoke for a while, letting the white noise from the television occupy the comfortably dead air.

_I could easily get used to this_, she thought, tracing nondescript patterns on his chest. She didn't feel the uncertainty or self-consciousness that typically followed post-sex. With his arm fitted around her and their breathing matched and steady, a part of her knew that she could easily fall into this new pattern that included him. And this new pattern would be lovely and sexy and something so addictive that it would permeate every thought she could ever hope to have until she was back in his presence.

That very idea also worried her, the easiness in which she could almost make her life about him. It was that tendency that made her reevaluate her approach to men in the first place. How often had she done this, gotten drunk off of intimacy, then did whatever she could to keep it in her life?

The sound of a throat clearing from above cut through her thoughts and a hand stilled her ministrations.

"How are you feeling?" Danny asked with a voice that was deceptively even. Mindy knew the question was far more loaded than he was trying to convey.

"Conflicted," she answered honestly, her tone quieter than she intended. They were still for a while until she could feel Danny rolling both of them over, landing them on their sides to face each other finally. Her heartbeat slowed almost to a stop at the sight of his disheveled hair and soft eyes._ God, he's gorgeous._

_" _'kay," he sighed. "You're conflicted...so let's figure it out, then."

She searched for the simplest way to summarize her feelings, but felt as if she were coming up short. There didn't appear to be a reasonable middle ground between "I think I should stay single" and "I think I should have your babies." The tender look of concern on Danny's face made it especially difficult to articulate anything. At the sight of her struggling, Danny spoke first.

"So..." he trailed for a moment, searching for the right words."Do you feel like tonight...was a mistake?"

"NO!" Mindy shouted unintentionally. The eagerness of her reply startled Danny, but also brought about a small grin. Mindy laughed nervously, then spoke with a much calmer tone. "No, not a mistake. Sex like that could never be a mistake. In fact, I'd _really_ like to do that again sometime!"

"Me too!" Danny perked up. "I'm talkin' soon. Maybe after a sandwich and some stretches."

"Easy there, Castellano." She resumed her pattern-drawing with the tip of her nails, now on his bicep. "This is clearly something, Danny. You would think that us being best friends would complicate things, but it doesn't feel like something that's in the way. Actually, I think you being _you_ made it that much better."

"Definitely. Same." He hesitated for a moment, then added cautiously, "You know I'd never hurt you, right?"

Mindy nodded. "I'm not worried about that at all."

"So where's the conflict?"

"The conflict," Mindy began slowly, "is that I know that I want more of this. I want this very amazing, very _sudden_ thing with you. I just don't know if it's smart for me to jump into a relationship when I'm still in the middle of learning how to really be by myself."

"Hmm." He said nothing else as he continued to rub his thumb gently on her hip. Relieved that he didn't pull away, Mindy continued.

"It seems like I fall into the same trap every time: I meet a guy, fall really hard, really fast, and then I'm suddenly bending over backwards to keep the guy in my life. Next thing you know..."

"Haiti," Danny supplemented knowingly. He smiled, but the action came across strained.

"Haiti!" Mindy agreed. "Or incredibly embarrassing displays at art galleries, or I'm flying across the country to beg a guy to stay with me! And when they finally do leave I'm left with this void, wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I'm just now starting to get that there might not be a real void, or that maybe that void is there because I created way too big of a space for these guys in the first place. That's a really shitty habit of mine, but it's also a really tough habit to break."

Danny looked dumbfounded and Mindy couldn't blame him. She'd never talked about her love life in this much depth with anyone before. "Wow."

She brought a hand from around his back and placed it gently on his cheek. "And I know you'd be different," Mindy assured him. "I don't doubt that for a second. That's what's confusing. I see what we could have, and it's so incredible. But I also see how it could end up. And if for some reason things fall apart, I need to be certain that I won't fall apart with it. That's why this time has been such a big deal to me. I'm still learning how to just..._be enough_."

A heavy breath blew between Danny's lips as his eyes dropped to the space between them. Though silent, he gave a soft squeeze to her hip. It comforted her greatly.

"Your happiness obviously means the world to me," Danny finally spoke, his voice sounding surprisingly grave. "So I don't want you to feel rushed or obligated to do anything. There's nothing that says that we have to have this whole thing figured out right this moment. We can let this new thing between us breathe a little for now, and it can figure itself out over time. We'll eventually get it right. Right?"

Excited for any flicker of hope, Mindy sat up. "Yeah, we'll get it! Everything will fall into place. I'm sure of it!"

Danny sat up and turned his head until his narrowed eyes were leveled with her optimistic ones. "You're positive?"

"I am! For now, we're just figuring it out day-by-day…week-by-week…month-by-"

"Mindy!"

"I'm just saying it could take some time!" she defended, holding back a smile. "We'll just let things happen naturally."

With the barest hint of reluctance, Danny nodded in agreement. "We can do that."

"Good. I'm so glad you understand."

Bending his head, Danny laid a lingering kiss on Mindy's shoulder. For a brief moment she contemplated the possibility of his lips harboring some sort of magic. How else could an innocent kiss on the shoulder draw out the same excitement as when he kissed her lips for the first time?

"Hey, so..." she said, trailing off as Danny lifted his eyes. His lips remained planted on her shoulder. "I don't see why... y'know..._everything_ has to stop altogether."

He lifted his head, but stayed close with an expression of amusement. "Oh?"

"Yeah. We're adults, right? And I don't see anything wrong with us enjoying the perks of our chemistry in the meantime." Mindy kissed him softly. She receded shortly after and suggestively bit the corner of her bottom lip.

Danny looked intoxicated, his eyes hazy and his mouth slack. He reached up and grabbed a piece of her hair, coiling the ends around his finger. "That seems a little reckless." Contrary to his protests, he kissed the corner of her mouth. "Irresponsible."

Emboldened, Mindy lifted herself onto her knees and swung her leg over Danny's lap until she was comfortably straddling him. "You forget I'm on vacation! Didn't you say there was no such thing as 'irresponsible' when you're on vacation?"

As he wrapped his arms around her back, Danny smiled widely and pulled her down until she laid on top of him. He hummed at the feeling of Mindy tugging on his earlobe with her teeth. "That's not quite what I said, but we can discuss it later."


	9. Chapter 9

**9. Take a self defense class (Done.) **

**To: Danny**

**Class just ended. I'm six blocks away.  
****Headed to your place now.**

**May 27, 7:32 p.m.**

Home was not an option. There was an excess of adrenaline coursing through her body and she felt far too empowered to waste her energy in the solitude of her apartment. Mindy shoved her phone to the bottom of her tote bag as she quickened her pace. She drained her water bottle in a vain attempt to cure her dry mouth, then tossed the empty bottle into the nearest trash can. Energized and only a tiny bit more hydrated than before, she counted the remaining blocks in excitement. _Five more to go!_

The past six weeks around Danny felt like a strange blur that was occasionally interrupted by a few lucid moments of flirtation or vigorous sex. In the beginning, their meetings were fairly straightforward. Mindy would stop by his apartment after a surgery or a particularly rough day at the practice, strictly looking for release. Foreplay was neither expected nor necessary. There were no romantic declarations and the cuddling was minimal. For once, Mindy was fine with the abruptness of all of it. In fact, she delighted in it, finally feeling like a modern Manhattanite who could compartmentalize sex from relationships with the same ease as tying her Fat Steps. She and Danny could have their fun while navigating the other more conventional areas of their friendship. No harm done.

Lately, however, it was getting harder to leave him right away. They'd finish and she'd find herself lingering rather than searching for her clothes - not necessarily needing to touch in a specific way, but not wanting the break their moment of togetherness quite so quickly. Danny never seemed in a hurry for her to leave, offering her free reign over his television or asking for her preferences in takeout. Even though there were never any concrete parameters placed around this new arrangement of theirs, the post-sex bonding felt like they were weirdly crossing that line between sexual magnetism and something more rooted in a quaint shade of romance. She liked it a lot, admittedly, but she feared it more.

Their meeting the previous Friday was the most perplexing. Their coupling wasn't nearly as frantic, both taking more time to simply enjoy each other. Afterwards, the exhaustion that Mindy would typically battle during her commute home overwhelmed her, causing her to burrow herself further into his bed. Almost automatically, Danny scooted behind her, draped an arm over her midsection and buried his nose into her hair. It felt dangerous to be cocooned in this way, but the thought of leaving made her sadder than she'd anticipated. His subconscious grip of her the following morning nearly broke her resolve. She used the weekend to recollect and remind herself of her original objective. As great as their time together was, she was apprehensive about diving back into dating. There was a moment when she considered talking to him about it, but their respective schedules kept them apart since that night. _Probably for the best_, she concluded to herself.

So this time was going to be different. She was going to strip down, rock his world until the headboard shattered, then go about her night at her own residence. This, she concluded, was how it needed to be for now, just until she could trust herself more.

Once inside his building Mindy pounded on the door with underestimated strength, surprised by the sound of the door rattling within its frame. She felt a little hypocritical, knowing that such a knock on her own door would have annoyed her greatly, but the need for him to answer as soon as possible overshadowed all reason and fairness. Her pulse sped up at the sound of the deadbolt clicking. As soon as the door opened to showcase a weary-looking Danny, Mindy dropped her bag and literally pounced. With her legs secured around his waist, she kissed him briefly, yet thoroughly, before trailing kisses from his jaw to his ear.

"Mindy, woah, hey Min," Danny blurted as he tried to pry her legs off of him.

"Danny, that class was so incredible," Mindy groaned, ignoring his protests and continuing to plant rapid-fire kisses all over his face. "I know how to legally break a guy's nose now. It's such a goddamn turn-on."

"Mindy," Danny repeated more forcefully. "Stop, we should -"

"I feel so badass right now!" She continued to kiss his face while simultaneously tugging her shirt free. "I demand to be on top this time. Don't refuse me. I can break your nose -"

"MINDY!" he shouted in frustration. When she finally stopped chattering, he sighed. Calmly, he continued. "I'm sorry, just...we need to talk before we do anything else, okay? So let's just..." He successfully unwrapped her legs from around his body and settled her down onto the floor with ease. "Can we just talk for a minute?"

Dumbstruck, Mindy gave a slight nod before adjusting her shirt. Now, as she got a good look of him, she noticed the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes. She couldn't remember a time when he'd ever looked quite this tired, not even during their residency days. Focusing on his hands, Mindy noticed that they were trembling faintly. She was beginning to worry.

With a shaky breath, he finally said. "Mindy, I've been having a harder and harder time with this...this thing we've been doing since Staten," he confessed, his tone strained. The possibility of him not wanting to continue hooking up never occurred to her. It felt like a sharp punch to the gut.

"Do you want to stop sleeping together?" she asked. She loathed how small her voice sounded.

"I don't!" Danny answered quickly. His eyes closed for a second, searching for a way to better explain himself. "I mean, I really want for us to continue whatever this is, but not under the guise of friendship. Mindy, who are we fooling here?"

The silence that followed felt thick beyond comfort. Completely blindsided, the adrenaline previously running through her quickly turned into nervous energy. As her mind reeled, he continued.

"This," he gestured back and forth between them with a lazy wave of his hand, "hasn't felt platonic for a long time, and I'm talking long before we started sleeping together. Min, I don't let my other friends in the way I let you in. I feel more invested in your happiness than anyone else's, even my own sometimes. I..." His eyes fell to the ground and his hands rested on his hips. "I think about you all the time and I miss you when you're not here. Do you wanna know what I caught myself doing two weeks ago after you left? I was _sniffing the pillow_ like a deranged moron because it still smelled like your shampoo. I don't do moony shit like that, okay? But instead of checking myself - instead of getting embarrassed by it like I should have - I just wanted you more. Mindy, I _want_ you, and not just for a night here and there. I want more."

Mindy was stunned. This was not anything close to what she expected to happen between them. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't quite sure what she expected from this, in the end. It's possible that she went into it assuming that things would either flourish on their own sometime down the line or fizzle out with little to no discussion. This admission was something she hadn't prepared herself for. And while it wasn't entirely unwelcomed, it certainly didn't feel like the time to act on it.

"Danny," she said breathlessly. "This is...I don't know..."

"You can't tell me that you didn't see this coming."

"I didn't!" she insisted. "I just assumed...Danny, this can't happen right now -"

"Well, I'm so sorry that this is coming as an inconvenience for you," Danny interjected, his tone laced with irritation, "but it's no picnic for me, either. You've been my best friend for so long now and who knows, maybe I've always felt something for you, but it seems way too big to just sweep under the rug. And I can't pretend that having you here for a moment and us having sex - sex on a level that I haven't experience in _long_ time, mind you - only to watch you leave doesn't affect me, okay? I've kept quiet about it because I know you said you weren't ready for anything serious, but at some point...I've gotta be honest about what I want out of this, too."

Mindy wanted to run her fingers through her hair, but it was tied back in a loose braid. She let her hands run down her cheeks and then dragged them towards the back of her neck. Not knowing whether to sit, remain standing, or run out of the apartment made her fidgety. Though she knew that she had to say something, she struggled to figure out what that something was. "Look, it's not that I don't feel things, too. I _do_, Danny! No man in my life - aside from, like, family - has _ever_ come close to meaning as much to me as you do! I'm just…you _know_ what I'm going through right now, Danny! This is so crazy for you to spring this on me and just expect me to give all of myself to you – "

"Woah, I wouldn't call a month and a half 'springing' anything. And I never asked you to 'give all of yourself' to me, so relax. I'm not trying to hold you hostage and make you cook barefoot in my kitchen until you beget my sons, alright? You know that it's possible to be in a healthy relationship and still have time to yourself to go to your pottery classes or whatever else you have on that list of yours."

Mindy could feel herself growing hotter with anger. " You know that's not what it's about! Don't you **dare** trivialize what I'm doing to better myself!"

" Stop it! I'm not trivializing anything!" Danny shouted. "But you're using it as an excuse to run away! You seem to think that being with someone is synonymous with surrendering your independence or your identity and it's not; not with me, at least! It just seems like I'm being penalized for your shitty definition of dating when maybe _that's_ what needs to change, not your hobbies!"

"Oh _please_, Danny!" she hissed, taking a small step forward. No matter how much of what he said might have rang true, the idea of him being the victim somehow offended her. "Maybe my perception of relationships is a little flawed, but you are hardly getting penalized here! We have had an enviable amount of sex in the past six weeks! Spectacular sex, might I add…none of which you've turned down nor have been denied. So don't make it seem like you're getting nothing out of this."

Danny's jaw tensed up and his eyes narrowed, a look of his that generally preceded a serious argument.

"So is that what you want, Mindy?" he asked in an eerily even tone. "You want me to just…what, fuck you silly then send you on your merry little way? Is that it?"

Mindy's mouth fell open in stunned outrage. "Jesus, you pig! Do you have to be so crass?!"

"I don't know, I think it's pretty crass to assume that all I want or need from you is sex!" Danny fought back loudly. "And pretty damn offensive! I go out of my way every day to show you that I care deeply about you, so for you to think all I want from you is a roll in the sack is pretty fucked up, don't you think?"

"God, I don't know what tell you!" Mindy yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "I know how incredible you've been and I appreciate everything you've done so much, but I can't help it if I'm a little confused right now! You don't get to snap your fingers and demand that I feel a certain way, Danny. For once, I don't want to rush into anything without.._.knowing_. You forget that you agreed to this. I didn't force my idea on you. Jesus, I just...thought I was simplifying things for the time being! What do you want from me?!"

"I just want you to fucking stay!" Danny was shouting almost at the top of his lungs. "Stop running! I want something solid, Mindy! I don't want to just have sex with you and continue the rest of my day like it didn't happen! I want to…take you out! Go to a movie, cook dinner together…I want to wake up to you and not a pillow that kind-of-sort-of smells like you. I want to watch those weird MTV documentaries that you like so much with your feet in my lap. I don't have to be in your personal space all the time if there are days when you're craving distance, but I don't mind at all having you in mine. I'd prefer it, even. I just…I hate having this question mark hanging over our friendship that makes it difficult to define what we are. I just don't get what's so complicated about you being my best friend who also happens to be my girlfriend."

His voice had lowered almost to a pained whisper by the end of his speech. Mindy simply stood there, silent and swallowing desperately. She had no idea what to say or how to feel. Even after all the time they had spent together recently, something about actually hearing Danny wish for a serious relationship sounded like something out of an alternate universe. This, she recalled, was the man that resisted her friendship less than two years ago. He would jokingly call her dates and boyfriends "poor saps" and "victims." Even as their friendship became stronger, the idea of him ever wanting to develop their relationship into something deeper seemed other-worldly.

Mindy would never deny the prominent part of her that wanted this from him, the part of her that always existed deep inside. The timing, however, felt so completely off. She didn't want him like this, in the midst of them fighting and her still so unsure.

"I'm…I…" she stuttered. She gasped a noise that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a sob. "This is really insane to me right now. I don't know what to say or what to do. Danny…I know that I want this eventually – "

"_Eventually_?" Danny interrupted with a look of vitriol.

"There's just still a lot that I have to work out! Please don't be upset with me! It's not you at all; I just don't know what's best just yet."

Rolling his eyes, Danny repeated plainly. "You just don't know what's best. Still."

Mindy crossed her arms over her chest and averted her eyes as she began to feel that self-doubt she thought she had rid herself of. "You know I've made a lot of bad decisions in the past. You've been there for a lot of them. I _do_ want you, okay? I'd never deny that. I'm still having trouble figuring out if what I want is the same as what's good for me."

She meant to continue, but the open-mouthed expression of incredulity on Danny's face stopped her mid-explanation. "Okay, so you're saying that you're trying to decide between whether I'm what you want and whether I'm good for you? You honestly don't believe that I could be both?"

"Danny, listen to me!"

"No, I think I'm done listening," he fired back with a sense of finality. "We're adults here, Mindy. You know me better than anybody else, so you know whether or not it's a good idea to be with me. There's no need to soften the blow, like you pity me or something pathetic like that."

Mindy felt her handle on the discussion slip, and she began to panic. "I don't pity you, Dan-"

"I can't make you want something that you don't want," he continued firmly. "And I'm not going to beg you to be with me if that's not what you want."

"Danny, now **you're** not listening to **me**! I **never said**-"

"You know, this is my fault." He sounded defeated. "Kissing you like that...hooking up even after you said..." He trailed off and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let's just forget about it, Mindy."

As uncertain as she was, she knew that _this_ wasn't what she wanted at all. Her heart plummeted at the sight of him both physically and literally pulling away from her. She rushed forward and placed her hands on his chest, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"I don't want to forget about it! That's not what I want at all! Look, I know things are a mess right now. Let's just...let's relax, watch a movie, and just hang out, okay? No hooking up, just two friends spending time with each other. We can revisit this when we're calmer..."

Danny reached up and grabbed her wrists in order to gently pry her hands off of him. "Mindy, I'm tired. I just want to go to bed and forget this day ever happened." He let go of her hands and started walking backwards. Mindy's eyes welled up at the look of utter hurt on his face.

"Danny," she croaked.

"I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he turned around, entered his bedroom and shut the door. Mindy remained rooted where she stood, hoping that he would return to her, even if it was just to yell some more. The silence made the room appear so much colder. The sight of his bedroom light disappearing from the bottom crack of the door seemed like the end of so much more than the argument. Amongst all the chaos in her life, her friendship with Danny was one of the only things that felt like a constant. Now she felt stripped of even that.

Devastated, Mindy quickly spun on her heels and grabbed her tote, bolting out of the door before Danny could hear her cry.


	10. Chapter 10

Mindy mumbled incoherently under her breath as she slammed her office door shut, now beyond the point of masking her irritation. She could eventually learn to live with Danny's decision to avoid her forever, but all she wanted was for him to be somewhat discreet about it rather than turn it into public display. The latest instance occurred the day before. It included him walking into the break room, immediately spotting her, then suddenly announcing to everyone that he couldn't enjoy breakfast with them because he "chooses not to dine amongst the truly selfish" just before walking out. In true Morgan fashion, he worried that Danny was referring to him, which caused a bit of scene. Mindy took advantage of the distraction, slipping away to her office before people could begin to ask questions.

It had been nearly three weeks since their argument and Danny was showing no signs of forgiveness. As angry as his stubbornness made her, she missed him. She'd find herself desperate for the rare work-related occasions that would require them to communicate, hoping that she could parlay the professional chatter into something more personal. Her attempts were rebuffed each time, punctuated by his insistence on referring to her with the formal "Dr. Lahiri." Mindy would try to put on her best poker face, not wanting him to see how much he was hurting her, but the rejection stung deeply. It was clear that he wanted her to feel some of the pain he surely felt the night of their fight, and it was working. She only wished that he would talk to her so that she could yell at him for being so hard-headed…and possibly kiss him. She quite liked his lips when he was using them to kiss her all over her body instead of making immature, passive-aggressive declarations around the office.

Nevertheless, she had made a valiant effort to start mending their friendship. With a litany of failed attempts under her belt, he would now have to come to her.

Mindy took a seat in her chair, tipped her head back, and steadied her breathing in an effort to calm her rage. Recognizing the need for a distraction, she exhaled loudly and turned towards her computer. _I could do some work_, she thought reluctantly as she began fidgeting with the mouse. As if on cue, there was a knock on her door.

"Oh, thank God," she mumbled as she pushed away the mouse. "Come in!"

Peter entered, and she felt a dulled ache of disappointment. As unlikely as the chance may have been, she hoped that the person knocking was Danny.

"Oh, it's just you," she said plainly, returning to her computer.

"I'm going to take that as the warm greeting I'm sure it was meant to be," he decided smugly as he took a seat on the opposite side of her desk. "I just had a quick question for you."

"Okay, what is it?"

Peter crossed both his legs and his arms while nodding his head back towards the door. "What did you do to that precious daffodil of a man out there to make him even moodier than normal?"

Mindy scoffed. "You _cannot_ be talking about Danny."

"Oh, I am. He's being Captain Dick Extraordinaire, and you're the pretty obvious catalyst."

"Uh, excuse you! Why do you automatically assume that his pissy mood is _my_ fault?"

"Are you for real right now?" Peter asked disbelievingly. "You guys have been attached at the hip almost as long as I've been practicing here. Two months ago he practically begged me to cover _your_ on-call shift and since then you two have been eye-groping each other –"

"How dare you!" Mindy admonished. "I have certainly never _eye-groped_ anyone!"

Peter chortled an exaggerated "HA!" before replying, "Girl, I **know** an eye-grope when I see one! Who do you think you're talking to, here? Anyways, something clearly happened because now you guys won't even stand in the same room together for more than a few seconds. Also, the two of you are always, like, grumbling. It's so weird."

Mindy leaned forward with a sigh, propping her head on the desk with her hands and inwardly cursing her naturally flirtatious nature. She never realized just how much sex had colored their relationship. "Peter, out of curiosity, what exactly do you think happened?"

He leaned back into his chair with a knowing, almost scholarly expression. "Here's what I think: I think you two idiots finally realized how bad you had it for each other, boned down hard, then one of you freaked out and pulled away. Judging by the way he nearly punched a hole in the hospital lounge's vending machine last week, I'm assuming you're the one that pumped the brake on things."

This level of astuteness wouldn't have unnerved her quite as much coming from anyone else, but if notoriously oblivious Peter noticed, then who else knew what was going on? Sitting upright, she tried to keep her expression neutral.

"You're drastically oversimplifying things," Mindy responded haughtily. "And I really don't appreciate how I'm being painted as the sole bad guy when he _absolutely_ should be sharing some of the blame."

"Oh, I don't doubt that he's being dumb, too," he assured her, "but you're far more approachable. If I'm missing something, just fill in the blanks for me. Tell me what I missed."

"It's a little weird that you're this invested."

"I'm 'invested,'" he emphasized with air quotes, "because the Danny that was in love was actually kind of pleasant. Dumped Danny is a heartbroken tyrant. Personally, I think you should go out there and make it work with that tiny, angry man for the good of the practice. I'd even be willing to foot your lunch bill for a month, for your trouble. "

Mindy held up a hand. "Peter, what you're describing is prostitution."

Peter chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am! So…so that's a…"

"No!" Mindy cried.

"Fine! Then be with him because you obviously love him, too! How am _I_ the one stuck having to point this out to you two?"

"We're not…" Mindy started to deny. "I mean, I _love_ him, sure. He's my best friend, so…there's something there, nobody's denying that."

"Except you, you mean."

"I'm not."

"And he's clearly not, so what's the problem?"

"Peter, if it were that simple, don't you think we'd be together?!"

"It **is** simple! You're the one making it difficult!"

In the silence of the office, Mindy recognized the high volume their voices had reached. She never expected Peter, of all people, to be this passionate about matters of romance, especially when he knew so few details. His readiness to pass judgment annoyed her. The accuracy of his assessment annoyed her even more. Not wanting to strengthen his argument, she looked off to the side and avoided his gaze.

"Oh, nothing to say to that?" he taunted. "Alright, I've heard enough, anyway. Mindy, you're being crazy and Danny is _driving _everyone crazy. I'm giving you twenty-four hours to fix it or else I'm immediately launching Plan B."

Eyebrows furrowed, Mindy repeated, "Plan B?"

Peter stood up, smoothed his shirt, then headed towards door while tossing the warning "Twenty-four hours" over his shoulder.

"I will not be intimidated, Prentice!" Mindy shouted to his retreating figure just before he exited with the door closing behind him. Truth was, she was a little intimidated.

* * *

Mindy had no idea what to expect the next day as she walked into Shulman & Associates. Her night had been a restless one, plagued with uncertainty over what Peter might do. Would he trap her and Danny in an elevator? Trick them into having lunch together? Frame them for arson and have them sit in jail for a while so that they could talk things out? As exaggerated as it seemed, Peter Prentice was a loose cannon. Anything would be possible.

She was also feeling the pressure to make things better with Danny. Hearing Peter claim that Danny was in love with her led to some shock initially, but the more she pondered it, the more sense it made. The idea of him loving her so intensely - because she was pretty sure that was the only way he knew how to love - scared her. It scared her even more to think that she might have missed her chance to find out how receiving that kind of love felt. She imagined it was a feeling unlike anything else, something that would consume her, and there was still that niggling question of whether or not she could trust herself with that type of affection.

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of her office door. Without Betsy there to chirp her usual morning greeting or Morgan to recount an undoubtedly questionable evening to whomever would listen, Mindy realized that she was the first to arrive. That was highly unusual, but a welcomed change. She needed the silence to think.

Mindy settled in her office and before long found herself lost in a flurry of files and paperwork. Hoping that her work would once again distract her from her personal woes, she dived in with the intent of achieving a commendable level of productivity. Instead, she would find herself working furiously between the day's appointments and intermittent thoughts of Danny, occasionally listening for his quick, heavy footsteps or his trademarked bark across the lobby. It amazed her how she could feel so far away from a person who was, realistically, just on the other side of her office door. It would be so easy to just get up, march out of her office, and confront Danny by the receptionist's desk and say…what?

_God, what could I even say_, she thought, dropping her pen in defeat and allowing herself to really think. _'Danny, stop acting like a jackass and talk to me?' 'Danny, I miss you?' 'Danny, I'm scared shitless that being with you will cause me to lose myself in the process?'_

And that's when reality hit her with such brilliant clarity that it rendered her momentarily breathless.

She had to talk to Danny.

"Shit!" she hissed in her empty office as she pushed herself away from her desk. "Shitshitshit!" She rushed out of her chair and flew across the room, opening the door to quickly to scan the reception area. With no sign of Danny, she quickly made her way to his office. She registered the darkened windows before she even had the chance to knock. Mindy searched for him in the phlebotomy room, the break rooms, and even opened the door of the men's restroom and called out his name. She checked her watch. schedule didn't show any appointments scheduled for this time. Looking around for assistance, she noticed Peter's lit windows. With a determined strut, she went to his door and entered without knocking.

"Peter, have you seen Danny?"

The scruffy doctor looked up from his laptop with bleary eyes. "Huh? Did you say Danny?"

"Yes! Have you seen him?" she asked again. "As nosy as you may have been yesterday…you were right. I need to fix things with him and I need to do it now. Do you know where I can find him?"

Mindy expected Peter to retort with an "I told you so" or at least betray a smug look of triumph. Instead, his eyes widened, then drooped in an expression of regret. "Oh, no."

Mindy tilted her head. "What does that mean, 'oh, no?'"

"Uhhhhhhh," Peter stalled as his pupils darted in every direction but hers. Mindy approached his desk and leaned forward with her palms placed firmly on top.

"Where is he, Peter?" she demanded firmly.

Peter closed his eyes and let out a pained sigh. "Okay, so I may have rolled with Plan B…and set him up on a date with a girl from my gym."

"**What?!**"

"Honestly, I thought that you would have leapt at the opportunity to handle things after I gave you the ultimatum yesterday! When you didn't I just assumed that you weren't into him, so I set them up."

"Okay, when?" Mindy shrieked. "Are you telling me he left early to go on a date _today_? What kind of woman is just available to meet a total stranger at the drop of a hat?"

Peter gave an amused chuckle. "Oh-ho-ho, you don't know Tasha. Girl has no shame to her game. She took one look at Danny's photo and was like, 'Yeah, I'm all over that.'"

Mindy groaned and stood upright with her head in her hands. She already began to mourn her timing, wanting to simultaneously cry endlessly and choke Peter mercilessly. How could she already be too late? And how could Danny just go so willingly? Was he that desperate for affection that he would run to the nearest woman twitching her hips? With a moment of thought, Mindy decided that none of that truly mattered. All that mattered was that she needed to get to him and lay everything on the line, date be damned.

She dropped her hands, stood tall, and turned to Peter with a steely resolve. "Peter, here's what you're gonna do: You're going to cover my remaining three appointments today –"

"But I have patients to see, too!" Peter whined.

"Well, Jeremy can cover you while you cover me. Either way, I'm leaving and you're dealing with it."

Peter rolled his eyes. "And what exactly are you planning on doing? Going to every restaurant, bar, and hotel room until you run into them?"

Mindy ignored the way her heart clenched at the words "hotel room" and replied, "I don't know what I'm doing just yet, but I'm not staying here and throwing in the towel. So, yeah. I'll see you tomorrow…unless I have to take a heartache day, then I'll see you Friday."

She ignored any further protesting from her colleague and made her way back to her office to grab her purse. Mindy felt like she was walking blind. These matters were usually approached with some form of strategy. The obvious choice was to call him, which she immediately did once she exited the elevator. No answer.

"Oh, of course you're not going to answer!" she griped, dialing the number again. When she heard his voicemail for a second time, she headed towards the transit station. The next option was to head to his apartment and try to catch him before his date. She'd be cutting it close, but it was worth a shot. Ten minutes later Mindy was boarding the train and heading towards Tribeca. Halfway through the ride her phone buzzed with a reminder for the cooking class she would surely be missing that night. Dismissing it promptly, she was struck with another idea. When the train eventually arrived at her stop, she exited and swiftly headed towards the market just around the corner form Danny's building.

* * *

After suffering through a brief interrogation from the elderly woman she tailgated into the building, Mindy rushed to the elevator with a number of packed grocery bags in hand. The bottles of alcohol clinked loudly as she slowly ascended to Danny's floor. In hindsight, she realized that she should have come to his home first before going anywhere else. The fifteen minutes spent getting groceries might have been precious time wasted.

The elevator dinged on arrival and when the doors slid open Mindy immediately ambled to his door with purpose. With her ear pressed to the door, the apartment sounded disappointingly still. She knocked anyway.

"Danny!" she called, caring very little about being heard by his neighbors. "Danny, if you're in there, please open the door!" She continued to knock loudly, hoping against hope that he was home and simply avoiding her. After a few more obnoxious pounds of the door with no answer, she turned around and slid down to the floor with her bags. She reluctantly accepted that he wasn't home. Instead, he was out with a very eager woman named Tasha who, Mindy guessed, had the body of a model and the sexual prowess of porn star. That's fine. She would wait.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, contemplating sending a text to warn him or her intentions to picket his apartment. Then she had the chilling idea of him hating her so much that he would avoid his own home to not see her. Saddened by the thought, she decided against it. Only twenty minutes passed when she began to consider the possibility of him not returning home at all. What if he went home with Tantric Tasha? Even worse: what if he brought her home, forcing Mindy to face the both of them? This suddenly felt like a very awful plan.

_When am I going to learn to think these things through before I act_, she groaned inwardly. _It would totally serve me right if he showed up with this tiny, acrobatic brunette_-

"Mindy?"

Her eyes popped open to the glorious sight of Danny standing over her, very puzzled and by himself.

"Danny," she said breathlessly. "Thank God." Mindy stood to her feet with a little bit of a struggle, bogged down by grocery bags and complicated high heels. "I thought for sure I'd be waiting all night! How are you already back from your date with Tasha? Please don't tell me you're grabbing a change of clothes?"

"Wait, how do you know about Tasha?" he asked. "Mindy, how long have you been waiting out here?"

She waved her hand and fought a relieved smile off of her face. "It doesn't matter, Danny. None of that matters. I really want us to talk. Can I come in?"

Without a word and after a moment of hesitation, Danny unlocked his door and held it open with on hand while the other gestured for her to enter. She did so after picking up all of the plastic bags in her possession. It amazed her how everything in his apartment always remained in its place. There wasn't even a stray piece of mail lying out in the open. It was like not a single thing was moved since she last came to visit. Mindy set the bags on the counter and slowly turned around to lean against it, hesitant to make eye contact with him. He slowly shucked his jacket off of his shoulders and hung it on the rack by the door, seeming just as reluctant to meet her eyes. Now that she had him here, she realized that she never figured out what she was going to say. With him standing a few feet away with his hands on his hips, she decided to just speak honestly, like she always had.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry," she began in a steady voice. "There were a lot of things that I could have handled differently. I should have considered your feelings more. I never should have even _hinted_ towards a friends with benefits situation. It was stupid and immature of me."

Danny rubbed his forehead gingerly. "It was an immature idea that I agreed to," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "I knew better than to do that. I'm sorry I laid all the blame on you and was pushy about my wants. I can't command you to feel something that you don't feel."

"But that's just it, Danny." She looked into his eyes with a little more confidence. "I _do_ feel those things. I think I've always felt those things – through Casey, Cliff, even Josh – but I was so afraid that this would end with the same result that I was afraid to risk it."

"I'm not those guys, Min."

"I know," she nodded as she took a step forward. "And that's what I realized today. I was so scared that being with you would lead me to change that I forgot that being with you meant that I didn't _have_ to change. With you, I'd finally be with the man that would never ask me to."

They stood for a moment, simply staring at one another. The gentleness Mindy sorely missed returned to Danny's eyes, and she didn't fight the relieved smile this time around as the corners of her lips tugged upward. "So how come you're back so early from your date with Tasha?"

Danny shrugged and took a small step forward. "I knew pretty early that I didn't care for it to go any further. You were right, it only takes about ten minutes to judge whether or not you want to date someone. Less time, even."

"I told you!" she exclaimed with an excited point of her finger. Danny looked down with a short chuckle. She took another step forward as she pressed on. "So were you not attracted to her? Was she dumb?"

"No, she was quite pretty. And we didn't get to talk much, but she seemed smart enough, I guess." The final step he took landed him just in front of her.

Mindy swallowed hard. It had been a long time since she last felt the heat radiate off of his body and the sensation was slightly overwhelming. It took her a moment to find her voice again. "So, what was it then?"

Danny uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I'll tell you every single reason why I knew that I didn't want to waste another minute with Tasha, if that's what you want. I'll tell you everything you want to know, but only under one condition."

"You and your conditions," Mindy teased with a smile. The small lopsided smile that crept across his face sent a little jolt to her heart.

"Min, I'm being serious here."

"I know," she encouraged him, placing her hands delicately on his chest. "I'm listening."

His face grew more serious as his hands traveled from her shoulders down to her elbows. "I don't want to find myself talking to the back of your head as you're leaving. If we're going to do this, I want us to be in this for real. No more running away. Can we do that?"

Mindy bit her lip as a huge smile broke to the surface. She nodded.

"Okay, then." He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a kiss at her temple. His voice came out huskily. "I missed you."

"You've been kind of a jerk for almost a month."

"I was a jerk because I missed you."

"I won't even challenge that logic right now. I missed you, too."

As soon as she looked up, he kissed her. She wondered how his lips had grown even softer since her absence. Mindy wrapped her arms around his neck, eager to reconcile fully. He pulled away far too soon.

"What's in the bags?" he asked quietly, tightening his hold.

"Just some stuff to make penne alla vodka. And some wine."

"You're going to make penne alla vodka?" His shock was apparent. "When did you learn to make that?"

Mindy quirked her shoulders. "Two weeks ago, cooking class." She leaned forward and kissed his lips gently, just as confirmation that she had complete license to do such a thing. "Not that I was paying that much attention. My best friend wasn't talking to me and I was kind of upset."

"That sounds awful, I'm sorry. Did you happen to pick up any of it?"

"Um, I think there was a part where I'm supposed put the tomatoes in a blender with the vodka."

"No, that is most certainly not how you make vodka sauce, Min," Danny insisted pulling back slightly while still keeping his hands on her hips. "Is that all you gathered from the class?"

"I'm pretty sure he mentioned something about those red bell peppers, so I grabbed those."

Danny let go and walked passed Mindy towards his pantry. "I'm almost positive he said red pepper, which is not the same thing, but it's fine. I have plenty of that." He pulled out two aprons and set one on the nearby counter. He held onto the other and gently guided Mindy to turn around with her back facing him. "Did you grab anything to go with the pasta?"

"Apple pie for dessert."

He draped the apron over her head, then grabbed the ties on either side and tied them behind her back. "I have some chicken marinating in the fridge. We'll make cutlets."

Once he secured the tie, Danny slipped his arms around her waist from behind and placed a firm kiss on her cheek, then he nuzzled his way down to her neck and placed another kiss there. "I think I tucked my grandmother vodka sauce recipe in a book in my room. Stay here while I grab it, okay?"

Mindy turned in his embrace, smiling wide as she placed a tiny kiss on his jaw, then his lips. "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

**A/N: With only the epilogue left, I wanted to thank everyone for their support! If you have a moment, please leave a review or comment. Hearing from you truly makes a difference!**


	11. Epilogue

**8. Make my own wine (Done!)**

"So this is it?"

"This is it! Dr. Dan's Strawberry Pale Ale, just in time for spring."

They stood in his kitchen, staring at the cardboard carrier that housed six dewy bottles of Danny's home brewed beer. Mindy hadn't tried it yet, but she had a feeling it would taste just as strangely as the others. It astounded her, the way his pride seemed to cloud his taste buds entirely. She also found it incredibly adorable.

"Babe, you can't honestly think this beer tastes better than my insanely sophisticated red wine," she said confidently, one hand resting on the counter while the other sat on her flannel-clad hip. She smirked. "Just watch. Tomorrow, everyone's going to be falling all over themselves to get a bottle of their own. I'm already anticipating a back order!"

Danny laughed pointedly. "They'll be falling all over themselves to find a toilet, maybe. You should anticipate lawsuits."

Mindy reached out and pinched his bare stomach hard enough to leave a red mark. He yelped and grabbed her hand. "Ouch! Jesus, Min, your nails!"

"Red Stiletto Cabernet is going to be a staple in all the VIP booths of the world's hottest clubs," Mindy insisted loudly, ignoring his pain. "And when Cosmo does a feature article about me and asks about all the nay-sayers in my life who didn't believe in my success, do you really want to be at the top of that list? How would that even sound? 'Oh, my husband, who was my crazily unsupportive boyfriend at the time, hoped that everyone would hate it in favor of his weird bathtub beer'?"

"I was kidding, babe," he placated while boldly lifting her onto the clear patch of his counter. "I don't want people to hate it. I would just like it if people realized that my incredible beer was superior to a _very good_ wine, that's all."

He stood between her legs and kissed her pouted lips. Mindy swooned while still trying to maintain her earlier competitive edge.

"Well, we'll see what the staff says tomorrow after work," she warned playfully. "Then, when I win, you're going to be stuck moving all of my stuff in here by yourself. And I cannot wait for you to see the uniform I've chosen for you to wear for the occasion. Uh, who wears short shorts? Danny effing Castellano does, that's who!"

"Whatever. I don't need to see it," Danny responded resolutely, trailing his fingertips up and down the sides of her thighs. "My ale is solid. You just better make sure you're good and limbered up once I'm declared the winner. I mean it, Mindy. As soon as I win, we're racing back here and immediately getting to work on those dog-eared pages in that Kama Sutra book. Pages 31 and 54, specifically."

"Woah, guy! You never said anything about page 54!"

"Mindy, I'd be a goddamn idiot **not** to mention page 54. You clearly weren't listening."

"My poor hip joints will never survive that, babe."

"I don't know," Danny sighed, dragging his fingers up to her hips. "You said you'd never survive that 5K and you did a remarkable job with that. And you're more flexible than you realize. Besides, what happened to that victory you were already claiming just a second ago?"

Rather than wait for her answer, he leaned in and trailed kisses and light nips across her jaw line, effectively trapping any further argument in her throat. This was a fairly common tactic of his, knowing that using his lips in this torturous way would essentially cap the argument. She both loved and loathed his proclivity for fighting dirty. As he plucked at the waistband of her pajama pants, Mindy placed her hands on the taut plane of skin between his shoulders and his neck. She made no effort to suppress the moan that been threatening to escape since being lifted onto the counter in the first place.

Smiling against her neck, Danny suggested, "Let's go to bed, Min."

While she was more than eager to comply, Mindy gathered every remaining strand of strength left to resist. "You were actually interrupting something that I've been putting off for months. Just give me twenty minutes-"

"Twenty minutes?!" Danny cried, pulling back. "You're killing me!"

"Twenty minutes, tops," Mindy insisted as she placed her hands on either side of his face. "I promise. Just give me that, and I swear I will saunter into your room wearing nothing but your leather jacket and a smile."

"Mmm," Danny hummed. He leaned in for a soft kiss. "Love you. Twenty minutes. I'll be waiting in _our_ room."

She gave a glowing smile. "It's still your room for another two weeks."

"It hasn't been my room for months now. We both know that."

"Is that a complaint?"

"You know it's not."

Even after nine months, his ability to seamlessly oscillate from sexy to sweet amazed her. Mindy considered the unfinished draft of an overdue fan letter sitting in her laptop, still begging to be finished after such a welcomed interruption. Then she took another moment to bask in the undivided attention of Danny. Looking into his eyes and then at his lips, she had a very sudden change of heart. She kissed him once again and slid off the counter. "I love you." Mindy took hold of his hand and started to lead him to the bedroom. "Sandy B. can wait one more day."

"Sandy B.?" Danny echoed in a throaty voice, already anticipating what was to come. "Is that a friend of yours?"

Mindy considered her answer. "She's kind of a friend to both of us, actually. We owe her a lot, you know."

"Do we, now?" As they crossed the threshold of the room, Mindy pulled him onto the bed with a suggestive wag of her eyebrows. Smiling wide, Danny crawled over his love and added, "Remind me to thank her."

**The End**

* * *

**A/N: I truly hope you all enjoyed this story and I thank you all for being so kind, whether you reached out via Twitter, AO3, Tumblr, or on FF! Please feel free to leave a review, comment, or simply reach me in any way you can. I cannot thank you all enough for being the absolute best fandom that an overenthusiastic nerd like me could hope for. :-)**

**Hollaatchyagirl,**

**Phunky**


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